Good healthcare needs to be accessible and it needs to be affordable. If it it's not, many will go without the care they need.
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The past six months have been challenging to say the least for most healthcare professionals. General practitioners have been among those who quickly had to adjust their services. But there were also some positives.
As federal Health Minister Greg Hunt put it, the government's response to the pandemic brought forward a 10 year plan on telehealth within 10 days. Suddenly the impossible, became possible.
Six months on and GPs are now entering a new era. Mainly a transition back to pre-COVID payment conditions. While the government has committed to a $2 billion, six month extension of some pandemic response measures, incentives around bulk-billing have all but dried up.
So what does this mean for patients, particularity at a time when many are already financially vulnerable?
The latest health department figures show Tasmania has the second lowest GP bulk-billing rate in the country at 78.3 per cent, after the ACT on 67.9 per cent. Northern Tasmanian GPs have described the government's move to end COVID bulk-billing incentives as premature, particularly as more and more patients return to face to face care. Now, it's likely they will be faced with higher costs.
If patients can't afford to visit their GP, it's not surprising many will instead seek care at their nearest hospital - further clogging up our EDs with non urgent presentations. General practitioners have a vital role to play, but they are also running private businesses. This becomes unsustainable if operating at a loss.
Issues around Medicare rebates have been ongoing for some time - on a national level. However, in Tasmania the issues are compounded with less specialists, an older population and higher rates of chronic disease. Bass Liberal MHR Bridget Archer has been working through a number of issues with Northern GPs for some time now and says she will continue to do so.
Let's hope the government listens, because no one should have to put off seeking health advice over fears they won't be able to afford it.
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