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Dr BRETT MONTGOMERY, Doctors Reform Society of WA.
The West Australian
11 March 2003
"New fee a tax on the sick"
THE system of co-payments proposed by the AMA and the Federal Government
(New fee to visit GPs proposed, 8/3) is another step backwards for fair
access to health care for all Australians.
A fair health system asks everyone to contribute to the health of the
community according to their ability to afford it, while dispensing
medical care according to need. This happens with the Medicare levy
(based on income) and Medicare rebates, ideally when patients are
bulk-billed.
As rebates have failed to keep up with rising medical costs over the
years, bulk-billing rates have fallen substantially, costing many people
more and more to go to the doctor. The Government could increase
Medicare rebates and take other measures to encourage bulk-billing.
Instead, more than $2 billion is spent each year subsidising private
health insurance, despite evidence that this is ultimately a more costly
system.
The solution proposed by the Federal Government is to enforce
co-payments on nearly all visits to doctors. It proposes that these may
be refundable to those wealthy enough to afford private health
insurance. While cloaked in rhetoric of fairness to all, this user-pays
system really amounts to a tax on the sick. The winners here are
government bean-counters and the private health industry. The losers are
the very people whose lives and well-being Medicare was set up to protect.
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