The AMA has praised the $8.5bn for bulk billing but has highlighted the need for deeper Medicare reforms.
The AMA is happy with the outlined health measures in last night’s budget but has also outlined what it sees as “missed opportunities” for significant reform.
“Those extra PBS listings for contraceptives and hormonal replacement therapies, as well as the huge uplift in Medicare rebates for long-acting reversible contraceptives were both big highlights, but certainly not unexpected.” AMA federal president Dr Danielle McMullen told TMR today.
There were few surprises in the budget, with measures aligning with previously announced promises, especially in regard to strengthening Medicare.
The AMA said there were still opportunities for much-needed structural reform of the Medicare system.
“We still have systems and structures in health that are out of date,” said Dr McMullen.
“Medicare and other parts of our health system haven’t kept pace with the times, and we really do need reform across general practice, private and public hospitals to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of an ageing population.”
The reforms proposed are directed at the expansion of time-based items for GPs, which the AMA says are outdated and do not align with current patient needs.
“Medicare was designed 40 years ago when people had one or two simple problems, and we now know with chronic disease, mental illness and every consultation in general practice being more complex than it was 40 years ago.” Dr McMullen stated.
“We need longer consultations, but we’ve still got the same old structure from the 1980s that wasn’t built for longer consultations.”
Another area of disappointment for the AMA was the lack of a proposed tax to sweetened beverages.
Related
This tax has been pushed hard by the Association, which says it would collaterally benefit both medical funding and relieve pressure on the healthcare sector.
“It would really dramatically improve the health of Australians but also generate much needed revenue for government that could be reinvested into public health measures,” said Dr McMullen.
The AMA also reiterated the need for further funding for public hospitals.
“It’s really disappointing that the Commonwealth and the states and territories couldn’t come to an agreement on a longer-term funding arrangement for public hospitals.” Dr McMullen told TMR.
“Post-election, we urgently need both sides to get back to that table with the Commonwealth paying their fair share of public hospital funding and the states and territories signing on to a multi-year agreement so that our colleagues in hospitals have some certainty of funding.”
