Australian Medical Association

The Government, as part of the 2007 Election Campaign, made a commitment to reform and simplify the MBS for GPs.  From 1 May 2010, GPs will receive a higher Medicare rebate for spending more time with their patients.  For further information on the simplification and to view the Government's changes to MBS GP items please click here.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the Government’s promised streamlining of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) has delivered a number of worthwhile reforms, but has not matched the rhetoric of the Prime Minister’s 2007 election promise to ‘simplify Medicare’.

Dr Pesce said that Australia’s hard working GPs had high hopes that GP consultation items would be comprehensively overhauled and red tape cut to a minimum so they could spend more time with their patients.

“The AMA fully expected the Government to deliver on its promise to simplify Medicare but the results fall short of the expectations of many GPs,” Dr Pesce said.

“We can only hope that this is just the first step in an ongoing reform process.

The AMA has prepared a list of the MBS items and the amount of the cuts to the Medicare rebates that will apply from 1 November 2009.  A template letter is available so that medical practices can inform their patients about the Government's decision to withdraw its support to patients and to obtain informed financial consent.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that a ‘new schedule fee (rebate)’ for complex cataract surgery announced by the Health Minister was a mirage and that most Australians in need of cataract surgery will still be worse off as a result of the original Budget cut.

Dr Pesce said the new rebate of $850.75 for a complex cataract extraction of 40 minutes or more is an increase of just $19.15 (2.3 per cent) for existing item 42702, and will apply to a small minority of procedures.

“The great majority of cataract procedures are still subject to the harsh Budget cut,” Dr Pesce said.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that removal of the Medicare rebate for synovial joint injections to relieve the pain and discomfort of arthritic joints will cause financial and physical suffering for thousands of elderly Australians.

The typical patient who needs a joint injection is a person in their sixties or seventies with intractable knee or shoulder pain while on the waiting list – sometimes for years – for a joint replacement.  It is a common treatment for Indigenous Australians.  The Government expects the medical profession to absorb this service as part of a standard patient consultation.

Dr Pesce said many older Australians would now have to pay a minimum $23 per injection for up to 25 injections per patient per year, which is a lot of money for a pensioner or person on limited income.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that an AMA survey of ophthalmologists highlights why the Government should reverse its Budget decision to halve the Medicare patient rebate for cataract surgery.

Dr Pesce said that older Australians would be hit hardest by this callous Budget cut at a stage of life when they are struggling to keep their sight and afford a good quality of life.

AMA response to nurse practitioner and midwife legislation that the Government announced in the 2009/10 Federal Budget.

In the 2009/10 Federal Budget, the Government announced that it would move to allow some nurse practitioners and midwives to provide services funded under the Commonwealth Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and to prescribe medications that are subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).  It also announced that the Commonwealth would subsidise indemnity insurance for midwives, although it decided not to extend this cover to home births.

The Government recently introduced three Bills into the Parliament to implement its Budget announcements. These are the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009, the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill 2009 and the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Bill 2009.

These Bills have been referred to a Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry and the AMA has provided a detailed submission to this Inquiry. The AMA submission highlights that, if implemented carefully, the legislation may help address unmet community health needs - provided it is done in a coordinated way and medical practitioners are still involved in the overall care of the patient. The AMA has warned the Committee that if the legislation is not implemented carefully, it will fragment care, increase the risks of inadvertent patient outcomes, cause duplication and increase costs.

The AMA submission outlines detailed recommendations designed to ensure that the ultimate arrangements work in practice and patient safety is safeguarded.

MJA Media Release - An open letter to the Health Minister from an outback GP

An Alice Springs doctor has urged the Federal Government to overhaul Medicare to remove disincentives for General Practitioners to conduct longer consultations with patients.
An open letter from Dr Susan Wearne to the Federal Minister for Health, the Hon. Nicola Roxon MP, is published in this year’s General Practice edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Dr Wearne said Medicare effectively discourages GPs from spending the time with patients needed to obtain comprehensive histories and carry out thorough examinations.

Draft proposals by the Productivity Commission designed to reduce the red tape burden on medical practices will benefit patients, the AMA said today.

A Productivity Commission draft review into regulatory burdens on business recommends that the Government drop the requirement for doctors to seek approval from Medicare Australia to prescribe certain drugs under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

AMA Vice President, Dr Steve Hambleton said: “red tape restricts patient access to medical care and some GPs spend up to nine hours a week completing paperwork. ”

“Every hour a GP spends doing paperwork, around four patients are denied access to a doctor.”

Introductory remarks to the Senate Community Affairs Committee’s Inquiry into Compliance Audits on Medicare Benefits.

Let me start by sincerely thanking you, this committee, for establishing this very important inquiry and taking our evidence today.  I’d particularly like to register our gratitude to Senator Ludwig for opening this to examination by the Senate and for making draft legislation available prior to its introduction to Parliament.

Please let me assure you that these measures are highly deserving of your scrutiny and concern. 

If passed, this legislation will have a dark and fundamental impact on the health of this nation, and will deliver very little in return at a great cost. This goes to the threshold issue of patient privacy.