Published
letters
The Federal Government continues with its devious plan to replace Medicare with Minicare. Now, doctors will be paid up to $5000 to install technology to swipe Medicare cards for direct payments (C-M, April 19).
Currently, a GP might charge $45 upfront per consultation and the patient gets a $25 rebate from Medicare. This leaves $20 as the gap. Under the new system, for a $45 consultation the patient need only pay $20 upfront and with the remaining $25 being deposited in the doctor’s account.
Doctors might take this opportunity to increase their fees. After all, patients already part with $45 under the current system. Even at $70 per consultation, the patient pays $45 same as now.
This new scheme gives doctors a license to print money. Costs will blow out and bulk-billing will disappear for all but pensioners. This is not universal health care. The Federal Government does not plan to maintain Medicare, it plans to massacre it.
Andrew
Gunn
The
Courier-Mail
21
April 2003
“Government
Doublespeak on Health”
Regarding the Federal Government's Medicare "reform package" doublespeak seems to be the name of the game (C-M, April 19). This package actively discourages doctors from bulk-billing anyone but pensioners. Calling it a plan to "revive access to bulk-billing" is nonsensical. It will not "take pressure off public hospitals" but will ensure health costs rise and people end up paying more for medical care.
Dr
Tracy Schrader
The
Courier-Mail
22 April 2003
N. Beer (Letters, Apr 22) paid a tradesman $70 for 15 minutes work to repair his refrigerator. Unlike GPs, I doubt if this tradesman has 40 or more clients a day. Charging a private fee of $70 instead of bulk-billing would boost the income of a GP seeing 200 patients a week by nearly half a million dollars a year.
Dr
Andrew Gunn
The
Courier-Mail
23
April 2003
The Federal Government could increase bulk-billing by raising Medicare rebates. This would cost a fraction of the private health insurance rebate scheme.
Unfortunately, trimming back the private rebate would result in complaints from its major beneficiaries, high-income earners. Instead, Mr Howard plans to remove restraints on doctors’ fees, get the sick to pay and give Australians a US-style health system. I hope he fails.
Andrew
Gunn
The Daily Telegraph
23 April 2003
Hairdressers, accountants and lawyers (probably in that order) are no doubt an integral part of the life of Kerryn Phelps, president of the Australian Medical Association. She believes doctors should also charge out-of-pocket fees (22/4).In her private general practice in Double Bay, one of the world's richest suburbs, Phelps would not see too many battling families. Allow me to enlighten her. Many families ration paying for haircuts and have no accountant or lawyer. Will Phelps' next media statement be: "Let them eat cake"?
Dr
Andrew Gunn
The
Australian
23
April 2003
Scott Glenn finds it ridiculous that anyone could complain about $20 out-of-pocket costs to see a doctor (GCB, April 24). I find it ridiculous that anyone not a self-interested medical or political spin doctor would not complain. You cannot plan for illnesses the way you can plan for haircuts. In addition, a $20 co-payment will soon increase, especially if private insurance is allowed to cover the gap. If that happens, private health insurance holders still suffer because their premiums rise and the rest of us without private insurance pick up 30% of their tab via Mr Howard’s private health insurance rebate. Extra money does need to be injected into general practice to maintain Medicare bulk-billing.
This should be funded through the tax system so that high-income earners bear the brunt of the cost, not funded though out-of-pocket costs paid by the sick. Making the sick pay is doubly unfair because low-income earners carry a higher disease burden than the rich. No new tax is needed to fund a rise in Medicare rebates for bulk-billing GPs. A fraction of the private health insurance rebate would cover it.
If the Federal Government and AMA have their way, we will soon have a fully-privatised health system like the United States where millions of people lack cover, unpayable doctors bills are a common cause of bankruptcy, and health costs completely blow out.
I would not want to be a doctor or patient in such a noxious system.
Dr
Andrew Gunn
The
Gold Coast Bulletin
25 April 2003
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