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Paying Your Way For GP Visits Will Cut Hospital Queues, Says CIS Report
Bulk billing for GP visits must be scrapped to save our hospital system, argues a new report released by The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) today.
In How! Not How Much: Medicare Spending and Health Resource Allocation in Australia, CIS Research Fellow Dr Jeremy Sammut argues that how we currently overspend on minor health issues through Medicare leads to the rationing of hospital services and long waits for treatment.
‘As long as the government funds your GP visit every time you have a sniffle, you will have to wait for surgery in the hospital,’ says Dr Sammut.
In the late 1960s, Australian governments spent $4.83 on hospital care for every dollar spent on GP and other medical services. Now for every dollar the federal government spends on the Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS), total state and federal government spending on hospital care is only $1.99.
‘Forty years ago, there were no queues for hospital treatment. Now, one in three emergency patients waits longer than eight hours for admission to a public hospital bed, and one in three elective patients waits for longer than clinically recommended for surgery.’
The total cost of all Medicare-funded medical services, which includes bulk billing, was $15.5 billion in 2008–09. This was more than the cost of the private hospital system and around half of what federal and state governments spend on public hospitals.
Sammut argues that the key issue in the Australian health system is how health dollars are spent across the entire health system.
‘Medicare spending is out of control and hospital funding suffers while we continue to subsidise everyone’s trivial health needs.’
Medicare should be replaced with a real insurance scheme that will adequately protect people against serious health events that require hospital treatment. Meanwhile, individuals should have personal Health Savings Accounts that can be used for minor health issues such as GP visits and marginal hospital procedures.
‘Our health system is completely back to front; the sickest and the poorest sit in hospital waiting rooms while the worried well see their GP on demand. We need real health reform that’s bold enough to fix this problem.’
Dr Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies. He is available for comment.
