Government currently provides a rebate to cover doctors’ fees as part of the broader public health care system (Medicare). It’s called the Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS).
The benefit will cover either the full cost of the amount the doctor charges a patient (i.e., the attendance will be “bulk-billed”), or it will cover a portion of the amount the doctor charges, resulting in an out-of-pocket cost to the patient.
There is much debate about bulk billing rates and out-of-pocket costs as out-of-pocket costs increase. This is because health costs are increasing faster than the patient rebates offered via the Medicare Benefit Schedule (see graph below).
Doctors say the schedule fee for most items is too low to cover rising business costs. Government claims that doctors’ fees are rising too fast. The truth is likely somewhere in between.
‘;
if (row.mbs != null) { html += ‘
‘;
}
tooltip.innerHTML = html;
tooltip.style.display = “block”;
tooltip.style.left = (e.clientX + 15) + “px”;
tooltip.style.top = (e.clientY – 20) + “px”;
});
hit.addEventListener(“mouseleave”, () => { cursorLine.style.display = “none”; hoverDots.forEach( d => d.style.display=”none” ); tooltip.style.display = “none”;
});
// Y AXIS TITLE
const ylabel = el(“text”);
ylabel.setAttribute( “transform”, ‘translate(25 ${H/2}) rotate(-90)’
);
ylabel.setAttribute( “text-anchor”, “middle”
);
ylabel.textContent = “Change since Jul 2015”;
svg.appendChild(ylabel);
// LEGEND MOVED RIGHT AND DOWN
const legendX = 140;
const legendY = 70;
const box = el(“rect”);
box.setAttribute(“x”, legendX);
box.setAttribute(“y”, legendY);
box.setAttribute(“width”, 370);
box.setAttribute(“height”, 120);
box.setAttribute(“class”,”legend-box”);
svg.appendChild(box);
const legend = [
[“Inflation – All Groups CPI”,”#1f77b4″,false],
[“Inflation – Health”,”#ff7f0e”,false],
[“Inflation – Medical and Hospital Services”,”#2ca02c”,false],
[“MBS Schedule Fee”,”black”,true]
];
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});
