- Higher upfront fees and lower rebates for women, people with a disability, middle and lower income people, anybody with chronic health issues and anybody undergoing extensive diagnostic investigation.
This is a prime example of a cut that will cause some people to “put off” tests and investigations then possibly end up with more serious health issues, time in hospital and/or death.
- The Medicare rebate has been frozen pushing up your costs for GP and other health professionals, and threatening/reducing professionals bulk billing.
The rebate freeze is equivalent of an $8.43 copayment per non-concessional patient consultation in 2017/2018 dollars
- The government is proposing privatisation of the delivery of Medicare rebates. The privatisation of public service delivery will mean:
- taxpayer money going into the pockets of private providers for worse service after profits are extracted.
- Your private records in the hands of profit driven companies and possibly going overseas
- Reduced health care in many areas – the Federal government has cut $50 billion out of grants for hospitals. State governments cannot easily replace this funding.
- Increased chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and heart failure, cancer, chronic kidney disease, lung disease and type-2 diabetes.
Treatment services to help people dealing with addiction face an uncertain future.
Increased national costs will consume funds better used in other health care areas. Estimated direct health-care costs for chronic disease are upwards of $27 billion and for obesity $58.2 billion per annum.
- Longer waits in Hospital Emergency Departments
Longer waits for surgery, poorer service in hospitals
More health problems reducing your quality of life and productivity
- People with serious health issues who reach the (annual) safety net now have to pay for the seventeen drugs cut from the PBS where they used to be free.
Stronger formulations require prescriptions and are not available cheaply at supermarkets.
- Your tax dollars are being used inefficeintly
Federal subsidies to private health are one of the the fastest growing components of health care.
Private health is not a good investment for taxpayer dollars, studies have shown that the subsidies do not provide an equivalent or even substantial reduction in public health care costs.
- Reduction in aged care services, hence health risks and more support needed from relatives
- Existing rural health issues have been made worse. Outer suburbs are also affected and indigenous people are severely affected.
Among the Funds affected are those supporting the provision of essential services in rural, regional and remote Australia; working to Close the Gap in health outcomes for Indigenous Australians; managing vital responses to communicable diseases; and delivering substance use treatment services around the country (ref PHAA 30/3/2015).