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It’s time to Modernise Medicare – Election campaign halfway to nowhere

The AMA is disappointed the federal election campaign is half-way through and ‘nowhere on health’, while calls for politicians to address health policy are getting louder in the community. 

“There’s a definite sense of Rome burning while the leadership is missing in action on health in this election campaign”, AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said. “We’ve hit the halfway mark of the election campaign and yet we are halfway to nowhere on health. The scorecard for the major parties is not a passing grade. We are yet to hear of any comprehensive health plan from either party that will deliver better health for Australians after May 21. The silence is deafening from both parties.” 

The AMA has provided a detailed and fully costed plan to Modernise Medicare and support primary health care. Modern Medicare would make general practice sustainable and was focused around three key themes - “more care,” “more time” and “more health,” with each theme comprising specific, costed policies to: 

  • Introduce the medical home model to bolster coordinated, patient centred care, encouraging patients to register with a ‘medical home/clinic’ to have continuity of care and allied health care under one roof. 

  • Increase the time available to patients to spend with their GP to address complex healthcare concerns. 

  • Encourage the provision of more GP services into after-hours. 

  • Expand the number of nurse and allied health services available in general practices/medical homes. 

  • Bolster the GP care provided to aged care residents. 

  • Create a wound consumables scheme, saving patients time and money. 

  • Evolve our GP training program to make general practice more appealing to the next generation of doctors 

You can access the Modern Medicare campaign and read our plan to support GPs at modernmedicare.com.au  

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