Every cent counts: $7 to doc comes off shoes

THERE are a litany of things that pile up in the Close household and visits to the doctor are high on the list.

Tania Close with four of her five children, Iszac, Lhiam, Nataeya and Mohntana.

THERE is a litany of things that pile up in the Close household, and visits to the doctor are high on the list.

Between them, Tania and David Close have reared 11 children. Five are still at school, the youngest of whom presently has a broken elbow.

“It feels like we’re always at the doctor, especially when they all get sick at once,” Tania Close says.

The federal government has changed bulk-billing arrangements so that people in need of a general practitioner will now pay $7 a visit. Concession-card holders and families with children younger than 16 will pay the $7 a maximum of 10 times in any given year, or $70.

There will be no cap for others. Those with chronic health problems who need a care plan won’t have to pay for the visit to prepare that plan but, according to Health Minister Peter Dutton, will pay for other visits.

While Tania Close, 43, from Elizabeth Park in South Australia, accepts that the amount may not sound like much, low-income families such as hers will struggle, she says.

“That’s still money we have to find elsewhere,” she says. “In this house that’s a haircut, a pair of shoes, buying socks for school. It’s not easy and I don’t think the government really under­stands that.”

There will also be an increase of 80c in the existing co-payment for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for concession-card holders, who now pay $6.10 when filling scripts. The increase is $5, to $42.70, for the general population.

About a year ago, the household budget became even tighter when 39-year-old David Close, who drove trucks for more than 20 years, had to give up his trucking business because of ill-health. Overnight, their income halved.

The family gets support where it can. The three elder children receive Learning for Life scholarships from the Smith Family, which cover essential expenses such as shoes, uniforms and textbooks, as well as providing help with their schoolwork through mentoring and other programs.

David Close is now on the Newstart Allowance and is aiming to retrain for an automotive job, but now will not qualify for the pension until he turns 70.

Even if he were still driving trucks, his wife doubts he could have kept up the hours and physical stress for so many years.

“It will be tough for a lot of people who just can’t work until that age,” Tania Close says.

“There’s a lot of old, sick pensioners out there who may not have severe medical conditions but are not able to cope with the amount of hours they have to work just to get a decent pay.”

The government says $5 from every co-payment will be reinvested in its flagship Medical Research Future Fund.

Medicare rebate freezes mean people will pay more to see some specialists as visit fees continue to rise.

The government also removed the restriction on state and territ­ory governments that prevented them from charging people for showing up at hospital emergency rooms for “general practitioner-like attendances”.

Additional reporting: Justine Ferrari