Medicare patient rebates fail to keep pace with cost of delivering quality care
The AMA today called for proper and realistic indexation of Medicare patient rebates following notice from the Department of Health and Ageing that the patient rebate for a standard GP consultation will increase by just 60 cents from 1 November 2010.
AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said the overall Medicare fee increase of 1.8 per cent is inadequate when compared with the Labour Price Index of 2.96 per cent and CPI of 2.92 per cent. [The Labour Price Index (2.96 per cent) and CPI (2.92 per cent) have been calculated by Access Economics based on actual data for the three quarters, December 2009 to June 2010, and a forecast for the September 2010 quarter.]
The MBS rebate for a standard GP consultation will be $34.90, up from $34.30.
Dr Pesce said that the long history of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) indexation lagging well behind the cost of delivering high quality patient care is the reason for the difference between MBS fees and AMA fees.
He said that this year’s inadequate indexation would only widen the gap.
This year, AMA fees have been indexed on average by 2.4 per cent.
The new AMA fee for a standard GP consultation will be $66, up from $64 in 2009.
“Practice costs including employing practice staff, and operating expenses such as rent, electricity, computers and professional insurance must all be met from the fee charged by the doctor,” Dr Pesce said.
The AMA List of Medical Services and Fees provides guidance to AMA members when setting their fees, based on their own practice cost experience. The AMA Fees List is indexed each year based on the AMA Medical Fees Index (MFI), which comprises:
- Labour Price Index;
- All Group CPI;
- Private Motoring CPI; and
- Medical Defence Insurance (MDI) premiums.
The overall average of 2010 MBS indexation is 1.8 per cent. However, there are some medical practitioner attendance fees and pathology and diagnostic imaging fees that have not been indexed. Therefore, the total MBS indexation is actually much lower.
15 October 2010
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