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Breaking the Medicare monopoly

Discussion in 'Australia' started by admin, Aug 19, 2005.

  1. admin

    admin Administrator Staff Member


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    Breaking the Medicare monopoly

    From todays Australian
     
  2. One Foot In The Grave

    One Foot In The Grave Active Member

    Ain't that the truth!

    When I hear these arguments I am reminded of something an old friend said about the relevance of allied health as he neared graduation from the MBBS 10 years ago. "I'm qualified to do all that. I could do all that work, I know all they do...it's just that as a doctor I'm too busy to be speaking to people about their diet or their feet."


    Ah the future of the AMA looks bright!!!
     
  3. Tuckersm

    Tuckersm Well-Known Member

    When the precurser to Medicare, Medibank was established by the Whitlam Government way back in 1973-4 it was proposed that the system would provide wide ranging healthcover, including dental and allied health. The AMA at the time was against Medibank, so as part of the negotiating to get them on side only Doctors and Optometrists were initially covered by the scheme. Doctors were and still are allowed to charge above the medicare schedule, whereas optometrists cannot. The Australian constitution prevents the federal government for forcing doctors into "cival conscription" (a 1950s amendment from the Menzies' government), which means the government can not regulate doctors fees, but they can reulate other HPs fees as they do with optometrists.
     
  4. Tuckersm

    Tuckersm Well-Known Member

    The Productivity Commission recently released their preliminary report into the Healthcare Industry, which looks at the increasing shortage of health professionals, with an associated increased need, and the problems of any fixes while we remain in a doctor (AMA) dominated system. An opinion piece in The Age also looks at some options, including Podiatry Surgery.
     
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