Victoria's busy emergency departments would be flooded with an extra 10,000 people a year if the Abbott government's $5 GP co-payment goes ahead in July, the state government claims.
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One day after the federal government dumped its $20 cut to the Medicare rebate for short GP consultations lasting up to 10 minutes, the Victorian government stepped up its attack on the broader $5 co-payment for all GP visits, due to start on July 1.
Deputy Premier James Merlino said modelling showed the $5 co-payment would deter many Victorians from visiting their GPs because they could not afford it, making them sick enough to need hospital emergency care.
"As it is, we know that around 7 per cent of sick people delay going to a GP due to cost … Our modelling shows that 10,000 people each and every year will be forced to go to an emergency department because of Tony Abbott's GP tax," he said, vowing to fight it.
The federal government is planning to save more than $2 billion during three years by cutting the Medicare rebate by $5 for all GP consultations. It is also freezing indexation of Medicare rebates designed to keep up with the rising costs of doing business. The rebate will not change for children under 16 and people with a concession.
While bulk billing GPs could effectively take a pay cut of $5 a visit, the Australian Medical Association and Doctors Reform Society say many will stop bulk billing and charge a fee because they cannot afford to take the hit.
But one Melbourne GP who works in a clinic for young people, Kelvin Lau, said if the plan went ahead, he would take the pay cut because many of his non-concession patients would be unable to afford new fees.
"We see students, homeless young people and people from isolated and disadvantaged families. Some of them have a hard time paying for the train fare to get there, so we can't charge them," he said.
A spokesman for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr Simon Judkins, said emergency doctors feared the plan would drive more people to crowded emergency departments, which are already seeing patients who could not get into a GP, especially after hours. This included many elderly people who cannot get a GP to visit their nursing home.
If the plan goes ahead, Dr Judkins said thousands of extra patients would likely blow out waiting times for people seeking emergency care, making it harder for staff to swiftly treat the sickest patients.
"In an environment where decisions need to be made which can have serious consequences, we need to decrease the stress and distractions, not add to them," he said.
In 2013-14, Victorian emergency departments, which are funded mostly by the state government, saw about 1.5 million patients.
A spokesman for federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said although a modest co-payment was necessary to ensure the sustainability of Medicare, she was happy to receive a submission from the Victorian government about its figures.
