SWSLHD and Bowral's Health - 52

Better Access cuts will go back into mental health: Roxon

Byron Kaye   all articles by this author

 

 Medical Observer

HEALTH Minister Nicola Roxon has given GPs a guarantee that every cent saved through the controversial cuts to the Better Access scheme will be reinvested elsewhere in mental health services.

In a robust question and answer session before more than 1000 delegates at the AGPN National Forum in Melbourne this week, Ms Roxon also all but ruled out meeting long-running GP demands that MBS rebates be indexed to match inflation.

Ms Roxon was asked by former AGPN chair Dr Tony Hobbs, one of the architects of the Medicare Locals (ML) program, about the government’s plans for the $580 million it is expected to save by slashing GP Better Access.

Dr Hobbs said there were already concerns that the cuts, since taking effect on 1 November, had led to patients being “quarantined” before being treated by their GP, and demanded a guarantee that all savings go back into the ML-run Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program.

“I can absolutely commit that that is going into mental health,” Ms Roxon replied.

“We have a very firm commitment about how that money is going to be spent – in mental health.”

She added that it was “just not possible for us to continue to meet growing demands” without reviewing existing spending, but “money that gets saved in one area… will absolutely flow through to mental health”.

However, Ms Roxon was less amenable to calls for indexed MBS rebates and urged GPs to show what additional services they could deliver before asking for extra funding.

Noting GP pay was “still very generous” and the MBS had so far been spared the cuts other parts of the health system had faced, Ms Roxon said there was “no appetite in government” for a “big jump” in the MBS.

“Big licks of money will only ever be considered by government if you can show us what additional benefits patients will get out of it,” she said.
Byron Kaye reports from the 2011 AGPN National Forum in Melbourne.

Tags: MBS, better access, Nicola Roxon, AGPN, mental health, rebates

Comments:

 

John Miller
18th Nov 2011
3:27pm

There's some odd logic here. Ms Roxon talks of "extra funding" while GPs talk of "maintenance funding" ie, keeping pace with inflation.
It's quite interesting to compare the position of the Medical Board of Australia which recently raised its already exorbitant fees by the CPI, with that of Medicare which never raises its rebates by anything near the CPI. On this basis, given sufficient time, the annual registration fee will eventually exceed the annual income of a GP.
In reality, no logic will work on this or any other politician while BB rates remain high.

 

Sniper
18th Nov 2011
5:35pm

If I could see the sense in the government wasting so much money on outdated and bloated PBS subsidies , heading towards the billions and going into the bloated profits of Pharmacy chains then I might not feel so piqued at her intimation that we are over payed. My understanding is that both her parents are/were pharmacists. She has probably been weaned on anecdotes of "how the noble pharmacist saved the dumb Dr". She is presiding over the over spend of billions yet she quibbles and quips about a GPs worth. There is a whiff of nepotism about Roxon.

 

inkblot
18th Nov 2011
5:36pm

A lot of the funding that is bankrolled from these cuts is going into mental health services, however, these are being aimed mostly at centre-based programs for young people aged 15 to 25. But there are no plans in place for people over 25, despite that the highest rates of suicide for any age bracket is for middle aged and older men (with men aged 40-44 years having the highest suicide rate - over 26 deaths per 100,000 males).

The full impact of the cuts wont hit us yet, because by Jan 2012 people are entitled to another 10 (the count zeros out every year). By about April 2012 though, there are going to be folks who have used up all 10 sessions and still need more treatment, but Medicare will stop funding it. If people cant afford to fund their own treatment, then they will be left in the lurch for 8 months. After that, psychiatrist appointments are going to be more difficult to get as mental health consumers turn to them in droves. Psychologists like myself will still be providing services to the wealthier folks in society who can afford therapy, while those who are struggling get cut short at 10 appointments. We have to set aside the fact that it costs a lot more for Medicare to fund psychiatrist consultations and even one hospital bed day for a mental health patient is around $1500, which is incidentally the total cost of Medicare funding 18 psychologist sessions per year for an individual. But the hardest hit of all will be people in rural Australia, as the focus of the Government turns to building big mental health treatment centres in cities and large towns, which only some people will access due to the stigma and visibility of these places. As one rural mental health advocate put it, these cuts are 'ten kinds of stupid': http://betteraccess.net/images/stupid.jpg

 

Stratmatonman
18th Nov 2011
6:33pm

Hey Ms Roxon, it isn't GP Pay - it's patient rebates ! And guess what - I am now privately billing it where previously I would have bulk-billed it. The sooner you're gone the better - you've done more to devalue GPs than ANY Minister in Australian Government history - you're a disgrace.

 

SJDoc
18th Nov 2011
7:25pm

Let's face it - this is the old labour chestnut of redistributing wealth. We could not have all this money being earned by doctors, heaven forbid! Let's take it off them and give it to mental health nurses or psychologists or social workers but pray, not doctors.... those uncaring parasites that make their living off the sick. But, colleagues, it is in our hands - after all, the Medicare rebate has been cut, but, I for one, continue to charge the same fee and I am not shy about telling my patients whose fault it is that their rebates have been cut!

 

smart
18th Nov 2011
9:48pm

Obviously she is a powerful and rude actress that refuses to answer the questions directly and plays with words and makes false promises for the future.
GPs need to act and pull her down from the position that she does not deserve to have. Until GPs are a bunch of silent lambs , it goes like this and never ends.
Tomorrow this government and its health minister might pass a legislation asking the GPs to work under supervision of nurses and I am afraid that GPs might obey that because they have no unity or courage to stand and fight for their rights.
I feel really sorry that GPs do not believe in their power if they act together. Look at the nurses , they fight for what they want and get it.