A decade of neglect that made it more difficult and expensive to go to doctors has intensified calls for reforming Medicare, according to the Albanese government.
A growing number of state leaders have started supporting the reform, with health minister Mark Butler vowing to fix the “parlous” primary health network.
“For the first time in the history of Medicare, the average gap fee for a standard GP consult is more than the Medicare rebate itself ... And that's having a real impact on the general operation of our health system,” he said, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The constant advice we have received across the country is that after nine years of cuts and neglect to Medicare, it has never been harder to see a doctor, and never more expensive – with bulk billing rates in decline, and gap fees constantly going up – than it is right now.”
Butler's statement follows the calls of premiers Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews for more bulk-billing clinics.
On Thursday, Butler said a key focus of the federal government's expert taskforce was multidisciplinary care, a model supported by the Grattan Institute to allow other health professionals to treat patients with complex needs.
“Australia's healthcare system is grappling with much more chronic disease, much more complex disease, which requires multidisciplinary care. And our system is not working well to deliver that multidisciplinary care, with health professionals working as teams,” he said.
However, Butler did not confirm whether the government needs to spend more than the $750 million allocation to improve Medicare, which health leaders deemed insufficient.
Dr. Mukesh Haikerwal, former president of the Australian Medical Association, said the Albanese government might need to invest more than $2.2 billion, the amount deemed the last major Commonwealth investment into Medicare in the mid-2000s.
“Otherwise, you are not going to make a significant impact. It's not as simple as increasing one rebate – there needs to be structural reform,” he said, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Medicare has been seen all over the news since last year, not only because of the calls for a major overhaul but also because of fraud allegations.
