December 2015, the Federal government plans to cut $650 million from funding for pathology tests and diagnostic imaging services. This means pap smears, blood and urine tests, MRIs and X-Rays are all unlikely to be bulk-billed.

This would cost some patients hundreds of dollars in up-front fees, which the Medicare rebate would only partially cover. So some people who need tests won’t get them, and more conditions will be diagnosed late or never.

For example, currently the Medicare rebate for cytology tests for cancer ranges from around $20 to $220. If these aren’t bulk billed then the patient has to pay an amount equal to the whole of the Medicare rebate plus however much extra the pathology provider decides to charge, and can only claim back the rebate afterwards. People who need multiple tests will have to pay the fee each time.

In Australia, pathology services are dominated by two large companies, which have both said they will probably stop bulk-billing. There is no cap on how much they are allowed to charge.

The money being cut is an ‘incentive payment’ that is only paid if pathology providers bulk-bill.

(Derived from a #thesecutsarekillingus document by E. Bacon, P. Jones and B. Holly)

Update : election 2016, in the face of a acampaign by pathology companies, the Turnbull government defered the pathology cuts until after the election and promised compensation to the pathology companies in the form of rent controls.