http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-02/ama-accuses-sussan-ley-of-review-politicis...The Australian Medical Association has accused Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley of "unprecedented" politicisation of a review that shows doctors were ordered to repay more than $4 million worth of benefits claimed in the 2014-15 financial year.
Key points:
Review shows doctors ordered to repay more than $4m of benefits claimed
AMA says figures do not justify Minister's talk of "growing concerns"
AMA calls on Ms Ley to stop painting doctors as people doing the wrong thing in a bid to find more savings in the budget.
The Independent Professional Services Review (PSR) being released today shows of the matters referred for investigation, 70 per cent resulted in further action being taken, including the repayment of Medicare benefits for wrongly prescribed chronic disease management plans.
Ms Ley said the report raised growing concerns around the exploitation of "grey areas" and ambiguities in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) that are allowing Chronic Disease Management (CDM) items to be misused, after they featured in about half of all compliance cases in 2014-15.
She acknowledged the instances of non-compliance are very small.
"However, for patients who are not getting the benefit of the treatment they're supposed to, the outcome for them is poor, and for the taxpayers footing the bill, the outcome is unacceptable," Ms Ley said