Tuesday, 4 March 2003

“John Howard’s announcement yesterday that bulk billing was never intended for anyone but the poor and the needy has finally exposed his hypocrisy and deceit about Medicare”, said Dr Tim Woodruff, President of the Doctors Reform Society

“‘Medicare stays’ said Honest John when going into the last election. And now he has announced the real story behind that dishonesty,” said Dr Woodruff. “Medicare only stays for the poor and needy as a safety net. That is US style two tiered health care, not Medicare.”

“What will my patient with 3 kids with asthma do now when they all have a flare up?” asked Dr Woodruff. “She will ignore her own check up and her prescription so that the kids get the best treatment. That will cost $120 for the 3 GP visits, then $75 for a prescription each. Then she will see if there is money left over for her visit and to pay for her private health insurance. And it may be too late to help her.”

Pay more for your health care is really what Howard is telling every Australian. A saggy safety net full of holes will be there for the desperate, but everyone else needs to forget about their Medicare card and pay more. Pay more to visit the GP. Pay more for drugs. Pay more for private health insurance.

John Howard is really asking that everyone send their Medicare cards back to him for destruction and get used to two tiered US style health care.

Dr Tim Woodruff
Dr Con Costa
Dr Peter Davoren

[ Doctors Reform Society of Australia home page ]
[ About DRS ] [ Site Index ] [ Search ] [ What's New ]
[ Policies ] [ Media Releases [ Published Letters ]
[ Current Issues: online articles ] [ New Doctor: Journal of the DRS ]
[ Discussion Board ] [ Contacting DRS ] [ Joining DRS ] [Jobs] [ Links ]