Doctors in Albury Wodonga warn they may be forced to close

Doctors servicing Albury Wodonga are warning they will be forced to increase their fees or shut up shop if forced to pay payroll tax.

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General practitioners in the Albury Wodonga region are warning the government that patients will pay a higher fee to see them if they are forced to pay payroll tax.

It comes after a NSW Tribunal ruling found GPs who don't own their clinics and pay a percentage of their earnings to a clinic rather than being paid a wage count as employees for payroll tax purposes.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the professional body for GP’s around the country, believes the move would disrupt established business models for clinics, who would be forced to make the choice between “charging patients more or shutting up shop.”

Albury GP Dr Rebecca McGowan told the Herald Sun she feared the new “sick tax” could mean the end of bulk billing.

“It’s going to directly impact on my billings, and my earnings, and we’re already running things pretty close to the ground with bulk billing. If this payroll tax comes in most of us will not be able to sustain bulk billing,” she said.

Dr McGowan said the tax roll obligations was “another blow” to “already exhausted” GPs.

“We need to nourish and protect our GPs, because we are the lifeblood of the community health in our area.

“This is definitely a step in the wrong direction. We already know that general practice is underfunded, it's going to get harder and harder to find a GP. And it’s going to become extremely hard for GPs to continue to service.

“It’s one last nail in the coffin for general practice, along with the Medicare freeze.”

RACGP president, Dr Nicole Higgins, warned that the tax could “cripple general practice in Albury”.

“Practices will have little choice but to either pass the cost on to patients by charging more or face the prospect of shutting up shop. Some patients won’t be able to afford increased out-of-pocket costs, so they will delay or avoid the care they need and end up in a hospital bed with a far more serious condition.

“I believe that patients in Albury and nearby communities deserve better, everyone should be able to access high-quality general practice care regardless of their postcode.”

RACGP NSW Chair Professor Charlotte Hespe said patient care needed to come first.

“In rural and remote areas, this will leave some communities with no practice to turn to. This is a disaster just waiting to happen and something that must be averted at all costs.

“I will say it until I am blue in the face – practices should not be slugged with this additional tax on top of everything else we are dealing with. Medicare rebates have not kept pace with the costs of providing high-quality care and the Medicare freeze has taken $2 billion from general practice care.”