Far North doctors prediction if Medicare rebate processes not revised
Doctors have issued a stark prediction for the region’s embattled healthcare system, warning if Medicare rebate processes are not urgently revised, general practice services in the Far North will be drastically reduced.
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DOCTORS have issued a stark prediction for the region’s embattled healthcare system, warning if Medicare rebate processes are not urgently revised, general practice services in the Far North will be drastically reduced as medical students turn away from pursuing the profession.
The Medicare rebate for a visit is $39.10 with tradies charging more for a 15-minute consult than a GP gets paid under the system. The Australian Medical Association recommends doctors charge $86 for a standard GP consult, the Medicare rebate is less than half that amount.
Poor pay means just 15 per cent of medical graduates now want to practice as GPs, down from 50 per cent in the past, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Dr Karen Price said.
Toogood Road Family Medical Centre co-owner Dr Elizabeth Martin said people were leaving general practice in the region.
“Over the last few years I have found general practice is proving not an attractive speciality to go into for a lot of doctors and medical students,” she said.
“The registrars I train now they are scared of burnout, they are scared with Medicare and all the rules and regulations.
“I feel very passionate about this because I don’t want to see general practice die.”
Dr Martin said systemic neglect from the government was killing the soul of general practice.
“If you are not paid for your work, it demoralises your whole sector. It’s demoralising and depressing.
“We are just earning a huge amount less than we used to. I have had people join the practice who learned they can earn more by doing an overnight shift in a hospital.”
The pressure on GPs began when the Rudd-Labor government imposed a one-year freeze on Medicare rebates in 2013, the Coalition extended the freeze for another four years to save $2.8bn.
Former GP practice owner Dr Katherine Holzhauser said Medicare was no longer fit for purpose.
“The Medicare rebate, it is a patient insurance scheme, it helps to provide some costs for patients,” Dr Holzhauser said.
“We as businesses are struggling as much as other small businesses are.
“It’s no longer sustainable. Here in North Queensland we’ve had well-known doctor practices that have had to close.”
Government data shows the average charge faced by non-bulk billed GP patients has risen 30 per cent since 2013-14 from $31.03 to $41.12.
The average out-of-pocket GP visits for Leichhardt is $39.45 and $95.04 for specialists. While for Kennedy GP out-of-pocket expenses for GP visits is $38.41 and $91.50 for specialists.
FNQH Cairns skin cancer clinic owner Dr Vin Rajeswaran said his business was barely breaking even.
“At my clinic we look after 1600 people, we find one melanoma every day, and hundreds of skin cancers every week,” he said.
“I employ 16 staff members and 13 doctors and we barely break even every month.”
“My accountant said to me last Monday if I continue the way I am going, it wasn’t sustainable.”
But Dr Rajeswaran said he was reluctant to increase the gap price from $30 to $45.
“Our rent goes up by 3 per cent a year. But the rebate’s been the same,” he said.
“We don’t want to increase it, we are resisting it,” he said.
“The thing that concerns us is patient safety. The more we charge to survive, the less patients are going to access Medicare services.”
The bulk-billing rate for GP visits in Leichhardt from 2018 to 2019 was 87.6 per cent and 83.1 per cent in Kennedy.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Minister Greg Hunt said: “Medicare rebates are already indexed annually and will continue to be.”
“Bulk-billing rates are 6.6 per cent higher under the Coalition than under Labor,” the spokesman said
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Originally published as Far North doctors prediction if Medicare rebate processes not revised
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