Budget ‘back on track with doctors’

The Turnbull government’s second budget has ‘reset’ its relationship with doctors, the key health lobby group says.

The Turnbull government’s second budget “signals a pivot” in the Coalition’s commitment to preventive health and has “reset” its relationship with doctors, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners declared.

The president of the key health lobby group, Bastian Seidel, also suggested the increased 2.5 per cent Medicare Levy — 1 per cent of which will go towards fully funding the National Disability ­Insurance Scheme — could be ­renamed the “NDIS levy” to prevent confusion about the purpose of the tax.

Writing in The Australian, Dr Seidel said the government ­delivered a “staggered but clear ­reversal” of what he called an ­“appalling decision” to maintain the Medicare rebate freeze until 2020. From July 1, the government will resume indexation of its bulk-billing incentive payment and over two years extend the thaw to consultation fees for GPs and specialists, as well as specialist procedures and allied health.

“As the body that represents more than 90 per cent of Australia’s GPs and fights for the interests of their patients, the RACGP hopes the end of the freeze signals a pivot — a genuine commitment by the Australian government to reinvest in preventive health and the most health-effective and cost-efficient part of the entire healthcare system, general practice,” Dr Seidel said.

“While this ongoing guarantee of the same funding each year in real terms may seem like a step back to where we were before the freeze — it’s a clear win for more than 85 per cent of Australians who receive preventive health services from their GPs each and every year.”

Dr Siedel said the government could now “restart a conversation” with the health sector — marking a significant change in approach following the RACGP’s active campaigning against the Medicare rebate freeze last year.

He urged the government to shift its focus from ­“expensive treatment to cost-­effective prevention”, singling out a decision to spend $514.6 million on a new drug treatment for heart failure.