DOCTORS REFORM SOCIETY

  

HOWARD'S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK FOR PRIVATE PATIENTS

 

"Private psychologists and their patients will be the big winners from the Prime Minister's announcement of details of the mental health funding package," said Dr Tim Woodruff, President, Doctors Reform Society

 

"The central message from Mr Howard has been about the $500 million in Medicare rebates for psychologists, backed up by the infamous Medicare Safety Net (designed to help those psychologists and doctors who charge more than the Government recommended fee)," said Dr Woodruff.

 

"He forgot to mention that the most severely affected and needy patients are dependant on the public system and often live in areas where there are not enough psychiatrists, psychologists, or mental health workers for Medicare rebates to be of any use," said Dr Woodruff.

 

"Some of those patients will be reassured to know that there is a tiny allocation of $50 million over 4 years to fund rural and remote mental health services," said Dr Woodruff, "but will be left wondering why psychologists would come to service them in the country when they can stay in the cities and get large private Medicare rebates."

 

"It's great to see mental health recognised," said Dr Woodruff. "It's disappointing to see that the mental health of private fee paying patients rates so much higher than that of the much more needy and disadvantaged public patients. The overwhelming majority of psychotic mental illness is handled in the public system (less than 5% of psychotic illness in WA is handled by the private system) and the current initiatives will only exacerbate funding inequities in all states."

 

"What Mr Howard is saying is that, if you have major mental illness, then the richer you are, the better taken care of you will be. The new funding initiatives are a slap in the face for those with serious mental illness in our community," said Dr Woodruff. 

 

"This is not health reform, this is a conservative agenda dragging our health system further down the road of the failed US health system."