Coronavirus: Scott Morrison announces $1.1bn boost for GPs, Medicare
Medicare home assistance, emergency food relief, health services boosted in Morrison government’s new $1.1bn COVID-19 package.
A major boost to Medicare, telehealth and mental health services, implementing 10 years of reform in 10 days, will allow Australians to seek medical help from home and provide new incentive payments to GPs during the COVID-19 crisis.
Under a $1.1bn package, which comes into effect on Monday, the government will double bulk-billing incentives for GPs for face-to-face and telehealth services.
Scott Morrison said the package, which also includes financial support for mental health, domestic and family violence services and emergency food relief, was designed to deal with the secondary effects of the health and economic crisis.
The Prime Minister said he was aware that many Australians were “understandably anxious, stressed and fearful about the impacts of coronavirus and what it brings”.
“We are focused on saving lives and saving livelihoods and this new support package will provide much-needed care and help to so many Australians facing hardship at no fault of their own,” Mr Morrison said.
The government is providing $669m towards remote health support during the COVID-19 outbreak, expanding Medicare-subsidised telehealth services in an overhaul designed in partnership with medical groups, including the Australian Medical Association.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the changes followed 10 days of talks involving reforms that “would otherwise have taken 10 years”.
The government considers the provision of health services to Australians at home as a key factor in the fight against COVID-19, limiting unnecessary exposure of patients and medical professionals to the virus and easing stress on hospital emergency departments.
Accessing healthcare through phones and video-conferencing (including FaceTime) will be available to people trying to connect with GP services and mental health treatment. It would also be available to those seeking support for chronic-disease management and pregnancy, services to those with eating disorders, patients in aged-care centres, children with autism and after-hours consultations.
The government will also double the GP bulk-billing incentive to “ensure practices stay open to provide face-to-face services where they are essential for patients with conditions that can’t be treated through telehealth”. The new measures will initially be in place until September 30.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Harry Nespolon said the package was the most significant change to Medicare “in a long time”.
“It is vital to provide extra support to keep general practices open so they can continue to provide essential support to their communities,” Dr Nespolon said.
“Like a multitude of other small businesses, general practices have seen the number of patients drop and we need our practices to stay open during the crisis and beyond.”
It was important to emphasise the Medicare Benefits Scheme applied to phone consultations, “not just Skype and Zoom”.
“We need to be technologically agnostic and not have the public or GPs think that this item is limited to video consultations; an old-fashioned phone will do just fine,” he said.
AMA president Tony Bartone said doctors could conduct telehealth consultations from their practices or while in home isolation.
“It will reduce public hospital presentations that could have occurred without telehealth access,” Dr Bartone said.
He said the AMA had raised concerns with Mr Hunt about the sustainability of medical practices if their businesses were disrupted or forced to close.
An initial $74m has been allocated for mental health support, including a national campaign to provide information about mental wellbeing.
Leading mental health expert Patrick McGorry welcomed the government’s package as the first step in combating the COVID-19 crisis and credited Mr Morrison and Mr Hunt for understanding mental health was a “core issue”.
Professor McGorry said additional support would be needed to deal with a spike in demand for mental health services.
“Anxiety levels have gone up by 20 per cent … it may push people over the edge. The curve will still keep rising … they will need to do a next step,” he said.
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