Title: Oops Forgot the Article I referred to
Here it is!
JC
Abbott's go-ahead to cut patient fees
By David Wroe
Canberra
May 31, 2004
Couples having a baby are set to save more than $1000 after Health Minister
Tony Abbott gave doctors the green light to shift costs from their patients
to taxpayers under the Government's Medicare safety net.
As The Age reported last month, many specialists - particularly
obstetricians - plan to change the way they bill to inflate the component
patients can claim back from the Government.
This could save patients thousands of dollars at taxpayer expense, leading
some experts to predict a blow-out in the cost of the $440 million safety
net.
Mr Abbott told The Age the Government would not stand in the way if doctors
chose to save their patients money.
"If a doctor was to charge his existing fees in a different way, and if that
was to mean that some people were in the safety net, that's just the way
things happen," he said.
"It's entirely up to them. We do not believe in . . . dictating to the
medical profession how they run their practices."
Mr Abbott also hinted the Government would unveil more health spending
before the election but refused to say what.
The safety net covers 80 per cent of families' out-of-pocket fees once they
spend more than $300 in a year, or $700 for wealthier families.
However, it covers only costs incurred outside hospitals. By charging
couples nothing for the delivery and adding this cost to the consultations
held during the pregnancy, obstetricians can redefine the delivery as an
out-of-hospital cost, meaning it would come under the safety net.
This applies to all specialists. Plastic surgeons, for example, could charge
nothing for the surgery and shift all of the costs to pre-operation
consultations.
Mr Abbott denied the cost of the safety net would balloon, saying the Health
Department had taken into account an "escalation factor" when it did the
sums.
Some experts predict a blow-out in the cost of the $440 million safety net.
He stressed the Government would not let doctors profiteer. "If a doctor was
to jack up his costs in order to rip off the system, that would be very,
very wrong," he said.
But Australian Medical Association vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal said the
safety net would "empower" doctors who had been undercharging their patients
to bump up their fees. Dr Haikerwal said the Government had "way
underestimated" the cost of the safety net. "I think it's a great plan, but
they've got the numbers wrong," he said.
David Molloy, vice-president of the National Association of Specialist
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said doctors would feel more comfortable
about using the cost shift with the minister's approval.
"Obviously, we want the most affordable system for patients. At the same
time, we don't want any of our members being accused of ripping off the
system," he said.
Norman Olbourne, president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons,
said he did not think plastic surgeons would restructure their fees.
Australian Association of Surgeons president John Buntine said fee
restructuring would work well for obstetricians.
"For obstetricians . . . that's 100 per cent logical, workable and everyone
would understand," he said. He did not believe surgeons were planning to
change their fees, but conceded Mr Abbott's approval made it more likely
they would adopt the practice.
