THE Tamworth-based president of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia says a new report showing out-of-pocket healthcare costs are the highest they’ve been in 10 years should force a rethink of the nation’s health policy and priorities.
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And if the trend continues, he said, rural and regional patients would be the hardest hit.
At the same time patient costs are rising though, the new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows spending by state and federal governments on healthcare is at a record low.
Growth in health spending fell to 1.5 per cent last year - its lowest level in 30 years - while the individual’s share of spending grew to its highest level in a decade.
Tamworth GP Dr Ian Kamerman says the figures are hardly surprising given the federal government pulled out of numerous health reforms introduced by the previous government in response to future challenges, such as an ageing population, shrinking workforce and technology advances.
If government policy continued on its current path, Dr Kamerman said, rural and regional areas, with a traditionally higher proportion of residents from lower socio-economic backgrounds, would suffer the most.
The impact of the controversial $7 GP co-payment would hit these areas the hardest, he said, and offer little in terms of genuine benefits for the nation’s health sector.
“All this debate around the co-payment means no-one’s talking about the real problems and the real issues,” Dr Kamerman said.
“They need to take a step back and think about more global issues.”
These included a greater investment in primary healthcare and preventative health initiatives that reduced the numbers of people ending up in hospital and forcing up national healthcare costs.
The proposed co-payment, Dr Kamerman said, if endorsed in its current form was funnelling money away from general practice, which was at the coalface of preventative medicine, where real health savings were made.
As it stands, the federal government is proposing a $7 patient contribution, $5 of which will be invested in a new Medical Research Future Fund and the remaining $2 to come back to GPs.
“General practice is where the best evidence lies - and in whole lot of areas the only evidence - about improving health outcomes of communities and the country as a whole ... so by taking $4 billion out of general practice over three years to set up a future fund, all that does is blow out the cost of health expenditure by reducing ... the prevention of illness, so more people end up in hospital or going to emergency departments,” Dr Kamerman said.
Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King said the latest figures showed the government case for the $7 co-payment was “a complete and utter lie”.
“The report ... bells the cat on the government’s claim that health spending is unsustainable,” she said this week. ((sept24))