Media Releases

It is great to see the Federal Government forced into committing to improving dental care for the most needy whilst improving their budget position through the means testing of Private Health Insurance rebate, said Dr Tracy Schrader, President, Doctors Reform Society.

 It is however, disappointing to consider that patients waiting a year to get a hip or knee replacement  or a restoration of vision through a cataract operation, will be unaffected by the political games being played in Canberra.

 The introduction of the rebate in 1999 had hardly any effect on PHI. The carrot didn’t work. The Medicare Levy Surcharge introduced in 1997 to financially punish the rich who didn’t take PHI had no effect.  The stick didn’t work. An easing of the stick by increasing the threshold income for payment in 2009 did not lead to the sky falling in as predicted by the Coalition and the industry. In fact there was an increase in PHI coverage. The stick was a dismal failure.

 So the new changes will have minimal effect on PHI coverage. But they will increase revenue for the cash strapped government and, because of the Greens intervention they will lead to some money being dedicated to dental care despite the resistance of the Government.

 But the biggest threat to HI and the private hospital industry is a well resourced public system in which the population has confidence. Sadly, the Labor Party, which introduced Medicare nearly 3 decades ago, appears to be quite uninterested in making the public hospital system an attractive choice for Australians. Instead it is more than happy to celebrate an increase in PHI uptake even though the main reason people are moving to private is their fear that the public system is not up to scratch.

It would appear we now have bipartisan support for a two tiered health system.

Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff  

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society                 

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The increasing and almost unregulated growth of corporate medicine in Australia documented in the Australian and the Medical Journal of Australia should be a wake up call to the Federal Government, said Dr Tracy Schrader, President, Doctors Reform Society.

Listed corporations exist to maximise profits, said Dr Schrader. If they can do that by providing first class medical care, they will. If some minor rorting or overservicing increases their profits with no obvious negative impacts on patients, they will be tempted to do just that, especially in an environment where regulation is so lax.

In this poorly regulated environment major rorting and overservicing is bound to occur. The unnecessary knee arthroscopy or coronary angiogram will find its place because doctors are human and range in personalities from generous saints to greedy psychopaths. Most of us are in between.

The Australian Medical Association believes that the amount of money Medicare pays doctors is grossly inadequate and continually recommends huge gaps or copayments to make up the income When the Government then sets up systems which rely almost entirely on the honesty of doctors to determine how much money is paid to doctors, we should not be surprised at the results.

Who pays the price for the Government closing its eyes to the problem? Patients and taxpayers.

It’s time the Government looked a lot harder at Medicare.

Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff  

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society          

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“Patients will continue to pay up to four times more than in other countries for many life saving drugs despite the Federal Government’s new arrangement to reduce drug costs,” said Dr Tracy Schrader, President, Doctors Reform Society.

“In addition this new arrangement will do almost nothing to address the fact that almost 1 million Australians delayed or did not get the drugs they were prescribed because of the cost (according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics patient experience survey).”

“Whilst it is great that the price of some commonly used drugs will fall substantially, many will remain too expensive and puts a strain even on working Australians let alone the most needy in our community. Why does Government approve life saving drugs and then put a price on them which stops the sickest and poorest people from getting them?,” asked Dr Schrader.

Dr Tracy Schrader
President
Doctors Reform Society
Ph 0401042619

Dr Tim Woodruff
Vice President
Doctors Reform Society
Ph 0408892610

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 “Figures about publicly funded private health insurance (PHI) released today show that 45% of Australians don’t trust governments to deliver timely access to high quality hospital care in public hospitals,” said Dr Tracy Schrader, President, Doctors Reform Society.

 “Rich patients take out PHI because they can. Middle income earners and some people on lower incomes who are very concerned about their health take out expensive PHI because they are afraid not to,” said Dr Schrader. “Those who can’t afford PHI just have to live or die with their fear and their pain waiting to get into a hospital bed, even though once they get in it is high quality care, even better than in private hospitals.”

 “These figures are a sad indictment of a Labor Party which has moved so far from the party that introduced public hospital access for all nearly 30 years ago,” lamented Dr Schrader. “Despite their talk of so called reform, they have no plan to build the public hospital system back to one which could stop fear and distrust of the public hospital system forcing people to take out PHI.”

 “Instead the Health Minister Nicola Roxon is pleased that more people are so worried that they are paying thousands a year for PHI so that they can bypass the under-resourced public system.”

 “Whilst means testing the PHI rebate is half a good idea, the other half would be to commit to building the public system back to a position such that fear and distrust is not a reason to take out PHI.”

 Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff                              

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society             

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“Today’s report that out of pocket health costs Australian people are having to pay have escalated to $1 billion should ring alarm bells for the federal government” said Dr Tracy Schrader, president, Doctors Reform Society. “This report supports a recent Newspoll survey which showed that 1 in every 8 Australians don’t see a doctor or get a prescription filled because of cost. The Australian Bureau of Statistics patient survey from 2009 told us the same.”

 “Out of pocket costs hit the less well-0ff and sick. If patients can’t afford to access standard health care some will suffer unnecessarily, some will become sicker than they need to be and end up in a hospital bed they should never have seen, and some will die.”

 “This federal government has done nothing to address the issue despite its major reform package”, said Dr Schrader.  “Indeed it has even reduced Medicare rebates for some things which will inevitably lead to increased costs for patients.”

 “These cost barriers exist despite a variety of safety nets. Safety nets clearly don’t work. One has safety nets when the basic structure is flawed.”  “The government has a variety of safety nets in place. Clearly they are not working. You only need safety nets when the system is flawed.

 “The Health Minister yesterday flagged changes to Medicare. She knows that the universal coverage which Medicare provides does not mean universal access,” said Dr Schrader. “Let’s hope that what she is talking about finally addresses these rising cost barriers, not (with) more safety nets or targeted programs, but with changes which stop copayments killing people.” 

 Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff                             

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society                

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“Reports today that patients with mental illness will suffer under the changes to funding are misleading at best and more a reflection of powerful lobby groups anti-reform position,” said Dr Tracy Schrader, President, Doctors Reform Society.

“The Federal Government is reducing funding for some services but increasing funding for other services to a much greater extent so the balance is definitely positive,” said Dr Schrader. In addition the change in funding will mean there is a much fairer distribution of the funds with patients with greatest need being more likely to benefit.

 “One of the problems with the current Better Access Scheme for paying rebates to see a psychologist is that there is an average $35 out of pocket copayment every visit. That means the most desperate simply don’t go”, said Dr Schrader. “Another is that the scheme doesn’t help anyone who is in an area where there is a shortage of psychologists. Once again that means that many of the most disadvantaged, living in poorer and more rural areas won’t get a chance to see the psychologist.”

“GPs get paid to assess patients to see psychologists and the amount they will be paid has been reduced. For GPs who bulk bill most of their patients and want to spend valuable time doing this assessment very well, the reduction in payment will force them either to work for less money or charge a copayment, neither of which are good options. Unfortunately the figures show that quite a number of GPs provide this service ($163) very quickly compared to other services so the Government has decided to cut the rebate to $120. This type of argument will continue forever whilst the Government and the professions cling to the outmoded inefficient, unfair fee for service rebate system of paying health professionals”

 “Another claim is that many of those patients treated under the scheme are very unwell and need more treatment. This program was not designed to treat those with severe and ongoing problems.”

 “More funds are needed for mental health, said Dr Schrader. “These changes go part of the way.”

 Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff                             

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society              

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“The opening of the first stand alone nurse practitioner lead clinic in Brisbane tomorrow will try to fill a gap in services which patients want and deserve but it is far from the best way to make use of these highly skilled people,” said Dr Tracy Schrader, president, Doctors Reform Society. “Waiting 40 minutes at a surgery, or 2 weeks to get a review appointment, or having to pay $30 just to get a repeat prescription with no questions asked leaves patients wondering about alternatives and such a clinic will provide such an alternative.”

There are two main concerns about this type of clinic however,” said Dr Schrader. “First this  is yet another expansion of the fee for service model of rebates and copayments which means that patients who don’t live in inner urban areas are likely to miss out on this kind of service, just like they do GP and specialist services, and as a business model the pressure will emerge to charge more copayments and leave the most needy out.”

 “Second is the concern that, as a clinic of nurse practitioners with limited general practitioner input, this is the exact opposite of the model of primary care that is needed to deal with the increasing complexity of community medical problems.

 “The best use of nurse practitioners in areas where there are already GPs and other health professionals would be to see this service as part of a salaried general practice, with nurse practitioners working side by side GPs and other health professionals, increasing the availability of care whilst optimising the opportunity for interaction of nurse practitioners, GPs, and others for the benefit of all patients.”

Dr Tracy Schrader    Dr Tim Woodruff  

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society                 

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Today’s announcement by the Minister Roxon that she has approved a 5.78% increase in private health insurance (PHI) premiums means another $200 million in taxes to support private hospitals, said Dr Peter Davoren, President, Doctors Reform Society.

 It’s only 2 weeks since the Federal Government announced that it would not increase its funding to public hospitals back to how it was when the PHI rebate was introduced ie about 50% State: 50% Federal funding. It has ignored matching public hospital funding whilst every year it accepts an increase in the expanding private hospital industry. The best it offered for public hospitals was matching the States for future funding (not current, not past) with the States whilst it pours taxes into the private system which is inaccessible to the majority of Australian taxpayers.

 The fact that the numbers of Australians covered by PHI is at an all time high is a clear indication that increasing numbers perceive the public hospital system to be inadequate. This should be a source of shame by a Labor Government which introduced free access to public hospitals in 1974. Instead, Minister Roxon seems pleased that people are being scared into taking out expensive PHI.

 Many people then are encouraged to use their PHI to go to private hospitals where they find that there are many hidden costs which they struggle to pay.

 The Government should be ashamed of the new figures, rather than pleased.

 Dr Peter Davoren Dr Tim Woodruff                              

President   Vice President      

Doctors Reform Society                         

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