Fed: Equity questioned in bulk-bill incentives
CANBERRA, April 28 AAP - Doctors and welfare groups have questioned the equity in usinghealth care cards as the benchmark for ensuring bulk-billing is maintained for low income-earners.
The government will today detail almost $1 billion in Medicare reforms including incentivesfor doctors to bulk-bill concession card holders.
But Australian Medical Association Victorian branch president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal saidthe working poor would miss out.
"There are people who carry a health care card who certainly need extra health care,but also those that don't who just miss out," Dr Haikerwal told ABC radio.
"What we would call the working poor, who just miss out and end up paying an awfullot more when they really have less resources."
General practitioners currently use their own discretion in deciding who needs to bebulk billed and who can afford to pay more.
"Currently the system is one where the discount is given by the doctors because that'swhat the doctor feels is right," Dr Haikerwal said.
"What we don't want is for the welfare system to be taken over by doctors' largesse.
"If there is welfare required, the welfare should be provided by the state."
Australian Council of Social Service president Andrew McCallum agreed that health carecards were the wrong benchmark for bulk billing.
"The health care card will not take into account the notion that people who are inthe workforce but are working poor, they don't have that access," he said.
"And also it really does then start to look at undermining the universality of Medicare,and I think that's really an issue.
"It's the thin end of the wedge in terms of undermining that universality and that'ssomething that we really need to be wary of."
AAP rmg/wjf/de
KEYWORD: MEDICARE CARDS
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