The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has called on the federal Government to act decisively and reverse the Medicare rebate cut for electrocardiograms or ECGs.
An ECG records the electrical signals in the heart and is a common and painless test used to quickly detect heart problems and monitor a heart health.
In July 2020, the RACGP warned that changes to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for ECGs, which came into effect in August that year, would effectively restrict these services to non-GP specialists and consultant physicians. In an April 2021 submission, the college argued that the changes to ECG items threaten patient access to timely diagnosis and management of heart conditions.
The federal Government has refused to reverse the Medicare rebate cut and instead intends to conduct another review via the MBS Reviews Advisory Committee once a further 12 months of Medicare data become available.
RACGP President Professor Karen Price said the Government needed to immediately change course in the interests of patient care.
“I am deeply disappointed in this decision. ECGs save lives and there is no point in reducing patient rebates for these services in general practice,” she said.
“Since August 2020, patients are only eligible for a Medicare item for ECG tracing in general practice and are not able to claim for tracing and reporting. This is despite the fact that GPs perform interpretation, report results in our patient records and determine what needs to happen next without needing to refer to another specialist for interpretation and reporting.
“What this means in practice is that patients have to access ECGs via more expensive non-GP specialists and therefore face higher out-of-pocket costs – something that is often completely unnecessary.
“The Government must properly recognise the valuable work GPs do with ECGs and appreciate how important these services are for patient care. They have got this one wrong; we should be investing in general practice so that GPs can take on services like this that save lives and keep patients out of the hospital system.”
Professor Price said that the time for reviews was over.
“The independent inquiry commissioned by Health Minister Greg Hunt tells us everything we need to know,” she said.
“This report found that the original tracing and reporting Medicare item ‘more accurately reflected the cost of providing’ ECGs.
“It also revealed that cuts to ECG Medicare rebates led to a 9% reduction in Medicare claims for ECGs when compared with the previous year. That is the exact opposite direction we should be heading in when you consider that we have an ageing population and chronic conditions requiring ECGs are increasing across the nation.
“In addition, patient out-of-pocket payments increased $3.91 on average compared with 12 months prior, a trend that will disproportionately hurt those who can least afford it. The report clearly states that this ‘may translate in the long term to poorer health outcomes’.
“Conducting another review is just kicking the can down the road. The Government should immediately reverse the Medicare ECG rebate cuts and enable GPs to get on with the job of helping patients at risk of serious heart problems.”
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