Gap ads put holes in the Government's health umbrella
The President of the AMA, Dr Kerryn Phelps, today described the Government's health fund gap advertising campaign - which started on television last night - as a poorly veiled attack on the clinical independence of doctors at taxpayer expense.
Dr Phelps said the reported $15 million of taxpayer money that is being used to promote the private health funds would have been better spent on public hospitals.
"This campaign has no focus on patient care or the best available medical treatment, it is all about price," Dr Phelps said.
"Such a campaign should be the responsibility of the health funds, not the taxpayer.
"The Government already provides a subsidy of over $2 billion a year to the health funds. The funds should be able to fund their own more responsible campaign that does not discriminate against doctors on price alone, or disadvantage patients by paying them a lower rebate for some specialists. Some thought should be given to what matters most to patients - medical skills and expertise."
Dr Phelps said the AMA has had a policy of informed financial consent since 1994.
"The problem with gaps lies not with the doctors, but with the Health Minister's reluctance to address the inadequacies of the outdated Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) of fees, to which all health fund fee schedules are linked.
"The key to fixing the MBS is implementation of the Relative Value Study (RVS), not expensive taxpayer-funded ads that attack doctors.
"Specialists should not be asked to surrender control of their fees to a health fund when nothing is being done about the MBS.
"GPs are being put in an impossible situation with this campaign. They simply cannot know specifics of item numbers and other important details before a procedure.
"Known gaps are the only option in our view. That way, when an unexpected $40,000 medical indemnity bill comes along, a specialist isn't locked in to a health fund schedule.
"Referrals for vital medical treatment and procedures should be based first and foremost on expertise for that individual's operation - the best doctor for the job - and not on price.
"As the peak independent medical organisation in Australia, the AMA should have been consulted on the gaps issue and on this advertising campaign, but we weren't.
"Taxpayers have a right to ask the Health Minister why he is taking advice on the health of all Australians from the health funds and not the medical profession," Dr Phelps said.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONTACT: John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761