Local GPs are somewhat sceptical of the latest proposal from ACT Labor.
Would GPs be more willing to bulk bill patients if they were given extra cash by the state government?
The ACT’s Labor party certainly seems to think they might.
With the territory election little more than a month away, promises of cash injections are flowing thick and fast in the nation’s capital.
Labor, which has won six consecutive elections in the ACT, has now promised to put aside $11 million to provide financial support for new bulk-billing practices to open in the ACT.
ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith told the Canberra Times that the funding would also assist with the cost of running a GP practice, so long as the clinic made a commitment to bulk-billing children.
Crucial details – such as how much each practice would receive, whether they would have to universally bulk bill and how they would avoid violating section 20A(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 by accepting additional funding while bulk billing – are yet to be disclosed.
Even without those details, Australian GP Alliance chair and Canberra practice owner Dr John Deery was not a fan of the proposal.
“Labor have been in power in Canberra for 23 years,” he told The Medical Republic.
“If there’s a system problem, then they’ve been in power for 23 years, so it is on them.”
The territory government’s lack of cooperation on payroll tax, he said, was emblematic of its attitude toward general practice.
“They’ve recurrently shown that they are not supporting GPs working in the ACT … and I think they’re eating their own lunch at this time,” said Dr Deery.
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Canberra has the lowest number of GPs per person of any capital city in Australia and has long trailed other jurisdictions when it comes to bulk billing.
Where the bulk billing rate in the other states and territory is about 75%, the ACT’s rate is just 57%.
TMR put questions to Ms Stephen-Smith’s office, but did not hear back before deadline.
