25/09/2024
Being a GP Specialist includes the tricky job of getting people the right care pathway when it becomes beyond our expertise. Sometimes we need a team, this can be a struggle. Non-GP specialists are difficult to get through the public system, largely due to the waiting times... and privately they charge significant fees between $250-400+ per consultation and regardless are booked out. It is interesting to point out that all specialists can in fact "bulk-bill" consultations, they just choose not to most of the time because they actually value their medical training and work. I find General Practitioners as a whole are altruistic and for decades have not made a fuss about the pitiful Medicare rebates not keeping up with inflation ... bulk-billing no longer meets the costs of running a practice or paying the bills for GPs. As a result we are moving to private billing with reasonable gap fees (honestly what you may pay for a haircut or dinner out), however fees other doctors are charging are 4-5x more - whether that is right or wrong is debatable.
Now you wonder why we have a shortage of GPs and medical students are not choosing the essential profession? They say: Why deal with a person as whole, have to know about 1000s of varied medical conditions and deal with complex psychosocial issues when they can be easily paid much more looking at one part/system/condition of the body in depth? It is also interesting to note that other allied health professionals, alternative practitioners/ naturopaths, therapists and dentists charge significant fees without any Medicare rebate. However some people don't see similar value in a GP who has extensive training of 10-12 years and certain expert fields/skills.
Medical care needs to be MORE accessible for patients and to ALL types of doctors and allied health. From the billions in health budgets, well under 10% is for primary care. From a GP point of view, we are undervalued and overrun - by the system and sometimes by our own patients. If you have a good GP, your health will go a long way. My respect for GPs is exponential after learning how difficult the gig is during training. We prevent disasters you can't foresee and hence the benefits are not obvious sometimes.
Please write to your MPs/ministers about the financial barriers and pitiful rebates of all forms of healthcare. We are all in the same boat, but some voices speak louder than mine.
Medicare is now covering just over half of specialist fees, forcing Australians to increasingly dip into their own pockets and delay vital care as experts warn Medicare rebates have become "almost meaningless".
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