The mixed blessings of the New Year regarding our health services includes a bipartisan agreement that the cost of prescription medicine is too much and the payment per prescription will drop from $42 to $30 today.
“That’s great” said Dr Tim Woodruff, President, Doctors Reform Society. “The flip side is that the Government has now decided to cut the number of funded visits to psychologists from 20 to 10. A review has indicated that the effect of having 20 (increased because of covid), had resulted in less new patients being able to access psychologists because they are too busy reviewing old patients. Thus, the probable benefit to a small number of patients getting lots of visits has meant that new patients don’t even get a first appointment.”
“But the real problem with Mental Health Services across Australia is the funding model”, said Dr Woodruff. “And it is the same with Primary Health Care, specialist care in the community, and private hospital care. Reliance on paying a rebate for each visit and then telling the health professionals (doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists, dentists etc) that they can then charge a co-payment at whatever amount they like is the problem. It means many patients simply can’t afford care unless the health professional is willing to bulk bill.”
“That means people suffer unnecessarily and some die from undertreatment”, said Dr Woodruff. “That is simply not right, not ethical, and should not be acceptable in a rich country”.
It’s time to look at a funding model which works well in e.g. Aboriginal Controlled Medical Centres, but also in all public hospitals. Professionals are paid salaries. Patients don’t have to find a co-payment. And the recently exposed and exaggerated ‘rorting’ of Medicare just can’t happen.
Dr Tim Woodruff,
