GP Bulk Billing Rates Fed By Incentives As Patients Are Placed Further Away From the Medicare Safety Net
AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that the rise in GP bulk billing rates to 73.7 per cent is a predictable result for the March 2005 quarter as it is the first full quarter to reflect the incentives contained in the Government's 100% Medicare package on top of earlier geographically targeted bulk billing incentives of $5.00 and $7.50.
Dr Glasson warned that any joy the Government gets from these figures will be tempered by the negative effect that changes to the Medicare Safety Net thresholds will have on patients, especially the poor, the chronically ill and young families.
"The bulk billing rates should not be considered in isolation, because it is not an accurate measure of how patients are faring on the important questions of access and affordability of medical services," Dr Glasson said.
"You only have to look at the fact that the biggest rise is again in Tasmania where the bulk billing incentives are higher and State-wide.
"The effect of the incentives will erode over time exposing the greater deficiencies in the system - workforce shortages, the need for proper indexing of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), and the changes to the Medicare Safety Net.
"As the Minister has admitted in his press release today, people cannot expect to be bulk billed every time they see a doctor - so the changes to the Medicare Safety Net are going to hit some patients hard," Dr Glasson said.
"There is still a GP workforce shortage and the costs of medical practice are still rising.
"Chronically ill people, the aged and infirm, and families with young kids will find the Safety Net out of their reach as we approach winter.
"A graph showing higher bulk billing rates will not help their health needs.
"While I congratulate the Government on the funding they have put into health with their election promises, I urge them to look beyond bulk billing rates as a measure of the effectiveness of their health policies.
"The problems facing patients and communities are bigger structural long-term issues and they must be addressed," Dr Glasson said.