Australian Politics Forum - Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.

imcrookonit

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Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:33pm

Fear of GP fee already biting, says doctors' association

Date
May 22, 2014

Doctors are already reporting a drop in visits because of concern about a $7 GP visit fee, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA). Sad

AMA President Steve Hambleton said there was widespread confusion about the fee, which will not be introduced until next July at the earliest.

"We already have some feedback, certainly from Western Sydney, there are practices that are saying that attendances have dropped and now we are getting reports from other part of the country as well," he said.

"Certainly the timing has been a concern and some practices have said in the first few days they have had about a 50 per cent reduction in the first few days.''

Dr Hambleton said bulk-bill GPs were sending text messages to their patients reminding them they could still visit the doctor for free.

Health Minister Peter Dutton told ABC TV on Wednesday: "I want people that need to go to the doctor to go to the doctor more and for a longer consultation if that's appropriate, but these are issues and decisions for the doctors to make and I want to make sure that we can strengthen Medicare going forward.

"The Labor Party model of giving everything to everyone for free is not sustainable and I think we strengthen Medicare in this arrangement."

Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget.

The party's health spokeswoman Catherine King said on Thursday that the Abbott government had broken a promise not to make cuts in health. Sad

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fear-of-gp-fee-already-biting-says-doctors-association-20140522-38q0e.html#ixzz32QXR6K8u

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John Smith Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 75137 Gender:	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #1 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:34pm Abbott will be proud !!!!!
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mantra

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #2 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:38pm

Quote:

"We already have some feedback, certainly from Western Sydney, there are practices that are saying that attendances have dropped and now we are getting reports from other part of the country as well," he said.

"Certainly the timing has been a concern and some practices have said in the first few days they have had about a 50 per cent reduction in the first few days.''

This is bad news for bulk billing. If it continues - doctors will make up the shortfall by charging the recommended AMA fee of about $70-$80 and cease bulk billing altogether.

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gizmo_2655 Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 16010 South West NSW Gender:	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #3 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:39pm John Smith wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:34pm: Abbott will be proud !!!!! Shorten is the one who should be proud...it proves that the disinformation campaign is working on stupid people.
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imcrookonit Ex Member	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #4 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:41pm Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget.
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John Smith

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #5 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:42pm

gizmo_2655 wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:39pm:

John Smith wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:34pm:

Abbott will be proud !!!!! Cheesy

Shorten is the one who should be proud...it proves that the disinformation campaign is working on stupid people.

Of course dis information works on stupid people ....Abbott proved that the day he won the election. Some on here still bleieve there is a budget emergency Grin

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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gizmo_2655 Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 16010 South West NSW Gender:	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #6 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:44pm Quote: Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget. Of course they will. Which Abbott and Hockey would have know perfectly well when they included it. (which may be the reason it was put in there, in the first place)
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Ex Dame Pansi Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 24168	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #7 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:44pm There's a lot of confusion out there, especially from people who don't speak English as a first language and from older people that have heard about the co-payment but don't fully understand it.
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John Smith

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #8 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:45pm

gizmo_2655 wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:44pm:

Quote:

Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget. Smiley

Of course they will. Which Abbott and Hockey would have know perfectly well when they included it. (which may be the reason it was put in there, in the first place)

so now your saying Abbott is lying twice over?

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Our esteemed leader:
I hope that bitch who was running their brothels for them gets raped with a cactus.

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Ex Dame Pansi Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 24168	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #9 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:46pm John Smith wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:42pm: Some on here still bleieve there is a budget emergency Some on here still believe that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction
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Aussie

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #10 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:47pm

gizmo_2655 wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:44pm:

Quote:

Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget. Smiley

Of course they will. Which Abbott and Hockey would have know perfectly well when they included it. (which may be the reason it was put in there, in the first place)

Given all money raised is going into a slush fund and thus it has zero impact on the budget bottom line, I think you are correct. It is a Trojan Horse, to be given up/sacrificed so that Abbott can say out loud ~ "See, we listened."

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gizmo_2655

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #11 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:51pm

John Smith wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:45pm:

gizmo_2655 wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:44pm:

Quote:

Labor has said it will oppose the GP fee among other measures in the budget. Smiley

Of course they will. Which Abbott and Hockey would have know perfectly well when they included it. (which may be the reason it was put in there, in the first place)

so now your saying Abbott is lying twice over?

Nope. It's a very very basic negotiation tactic to always have something you can give in on, so the other party feels they've won some points.

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"I just get sick of people who place a label on someone else with their own definition.

It's similar to a strawman fallacy"
Bobbythebat

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Grendel Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 28080 Gender:	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #12 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:52pm I guess that means the policy is working even though it hasn't started yet eh.
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Andrei.Hicks

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Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits.
Reply #13 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 6:00pm

Just as a little bit of a reminder - in classic economic theory, price and cost are tools to adjust the supply/demand curve to bring demand more into line with the ability to provide.

Increasing cost has a purpose of deterring people from going.

This is shown to be happening.

I'm not seeing an issue....

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Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination - Oscar Wilde

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Andrei.Hicks Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 23818 Carlsbad, CA Gender:	Re: Doctors Already Reporting A Drop In Visits. Reply #14 - May 22^nd, 2014 at 6:01pm Grendel wrote on May 22^nd, 2014 at 5:52pm: I guess that means the policy is working even though it hasn't started yet eh. It's deterrence though. Most of them time you can bring in demand curtailing by communication of price increases without actually making them!
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