Co-payment cancellations
May 23, 2014
THE Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners (RACGP) and
the Australian Medical Association
(AMA) have said patients have
begun cancelling or not presenting
to GP appointments in the wake of
the Federal Government’s 2014-15
Budget proposal to introduce a $7
co-payment to deter ‘avoidable’ GP
visits.
AMA president Dr Steve
Hambleton said some practices
had texted patients to explain
the co-payment would not be
implemented until 01 Jul 2015.
Hambleton said details were not
yet available as to whether these
were made up of patients who
should be going or not, but that
at least two states had reported
concerns.
RACGP vice president Adjunct
Professor Frank Jones said many
GPs were seeing patients cancelling
appointments since the copayment
announcement.
“Hospital emergency rooms
have seen an increase in patients
presenting for conditions that
could be treated at a general
practice level to avoid paying the
co-payment.
“The Government has the
responsibility of clarifying the
intricacies of the co-payment
model; however it is further
compounding the issue with
ill-informed and inaccurate
messages.”
He said GPs also did not have
sufficient information as to the
administration of the co-payment.
A Pharmacy Guild of Australia
spokesman said unlike the
proposed Medicare co-payment,
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
co-payments already existed, so the
prospect of an increase was unlikely
to have the same ‘announcement
effect’.
He referenced an article from
2008 which detailed a fall in
pensioners’ use of medicines
following the 2005 rise in
prescription co-payments.
“The impact of the $7 Medicare
co-payment is unknown at this
early stage, but there is every
likelihood that it will highlight
the accessibility of community
pharmacies, where qualified health
professionals can be seen without
an appointment and usually
without charge.”
The RACGP has advice on how the
$7 co-payment will be administered
which you can read by CLICKING
HERE.
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