The federal government’s plan to cut the Medicare rebate paid to doctors by $5 could force regional practices to downsize, says one Mudgee doctor.
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The government’s original proposal to charge patients an extra $7 fee to see a doctor was scrapped last week.
Children, pensioners, veterans and aged care residents will be exempt from the new plan that will reduce the Medicare rebate received by doctors for general consultations by $5.
Doctors can either absorb the extra $5 cost per patient with bulk-billing or pass on the amount to non-concessional patients.
Rebates for all other Medicare services will be frozen until 2018 to make up for the loss of the $7 GP co-payment.
“Doctors face a relative pay cut of about 20 to 25 per cent for the decade ending 2018 with a Medicare fee reduction of $5 plus freezing increases in Medicare rebates till 2018, with an inflation rate of two to three per cent per year,” Dr Cornè Kriek said.
“There has been only one small increase in Medicare fees in the last five years, which was also well below the inflation rate.”
Dr Kriek said smaller practices on tight budgets may not be able to afford practice nurses or other administration staff.
“A significant percentage of practices may have to downsize and many nurses and admin staff will lose their jobs,” he said.
“The ripple effect will include fewer doctors interested in general practice and with the aging work force, rural Australia will face a devastating doctor shortage in the next few years.”
In a statement to the Guardian, Mudgee Medical Centre said the freeze on rebates will have financial implications for general practice.
“The government has targeted general practice, which is undeniably the most cost-effective sector of the healthcare system,” the statement said.
“The reduced rebate and freezing of the rebate amount until July 1, 2018 has significant implications for the financial viability of every general practice, in particular those operating under a small business model and risks young doctors viewing general practice as an unviable career.
“It may encourage GPs to charge a private fee for consultations instead of bulk billing patients.”
Fees will not apply to pathology tests and diagnostic imaging services and the minimum consultation time will be increased to ten minutes.
