Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak in support of the Health Insurance Amendment (90 Day Pay Doctor Cheque Scheme) Bill 2008, especially in front of you, Mr Deputy Speaker Bevis. I know that you have a longstanding connection to the health industry, as does the member opposite, the member for Bowman. Both of you are committed to good health services. One of the first things that occurred for me as a new member was to appear on the front page of the TUH journal with you.

This bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to allow medical specialists and consultant physicians access to the 90 Day Pay Doctor Cheque Scheme. GPs have had access to this scheme since 2001, so I am sure the member for Bowman will be surprised that this is one of the first times that the medical hierarchy has been reversed. This bill brings justice and equity for our poor, neglected medical specialists and consultant physicians.

One way in which patients can pay their doctor is via a claimant cheque. Medicare Australia sends the cheque made out to the doctor to the patient, who then forwards the cheque, along with any outstanding payment, to the medical practitioner. Only around five per cent of Medicare services, or 13 million claims, are paid in this manner. Of these, the overwhelming majority of patients forward the cheque and payment to the doctor within 90 days. However, in some circumstances, for whatever reason, patients fail to forward the cheque within 90 days. The 90 Day Pay Doctor Cheque Scheme allows for the cheque to be cancelled and then Medicare pays the GP directly.

However, the problem is not limited only to GPs. Other medical practitioners also experience non-payment of patient accounts, and that is why this bill extends the scheme to cover specialists and consultant physicians where the original Medicare claim is submitted electronically. This bill effectively closes a loophole whereby some specialists and consultants would not get paid for medical services that they had provided. Obviously, we have more than enough medical workforce shortages in Australia at the moment. A long history of that issue can be traced back to health ministers in the previous government. But this proposal from the Rudd government will go some small way towards alleviating one concern of practitioners.

The benefits of this bill are far reaching. Firstly, it will help to ensure that specialists and consultants receive some payment for the services that they have delivered to patients. It will also help patients meet the costs of health care by ensuring that they can use the Medicare rebate up-front towards payment of their bill. This will help take pressure off families and seniors if they are not required to pay their medical bills up-front. It will also encourage more specialists and physicians to use electronic claiming of Medicare benefits, therefore creating administrative savings and time savings for these health professionals. As I said, the specialists and consultants can only access the 90 Day Pay Doctor Scheme if their original claim is submitted electronically. This is a smart way to encourage more doctors to use electronic claiming, which is obviously a far more efficient process. The Rudd government is always looking for smarter ways to do things which produce savings for the broader community. Online claiming allows patients to lodge claims immediately after the consultation, without attending a Medicare office or submitting a claim via email.

I have a three-year-old son, so I have probably gone to the doctor more times in the last three years than I have in the last 40 years. Because I have gone to the doctor lots of times, I have had the joy of lining up in a lot of Medicare offices. Anyone who has spent any part of their life lined up in Medicare offices knows that not only will that time be a part of their life they will never get back but anything that can be done to alleviate that time would be a good thing. I note in passing that there are no Medicare offices in Moreton, even though it is an inner seat of Brisbane. It is shameful. It is over 100 square kilometres in size but there are no Medicare offices at all. That is another area of neglect that the former member failed to address.

The online lodging of claims is also of particular benefit to rural and remote patients, as they will not be required to travel long distances in order to present to a Medicare office to receive their rebate or pay with a pay doctor cheque. Having come from the bush, it is a bit strange for me to be complaining on behalf of the people of Moreton about the problems they have lining up when I think of what the experience would be like in places like St George, where I come from and where the closest Medicare office is about 380 kilometres away. Whilst it might be tough in Moreton without any Medicare offices, it is even tougher in the bush.

This is a great initiative that will benefit people all over rural Australia. It is good to see that the Rudd Labor government is looking after the people in the bush, because the National Party have obviously deserted the field in so many ways. I notice that in Queensland they are joining up with the Liberal Party just to confirm that desertion. New South Wales will have the joy as well! As a further incentive, a support package currently only available to GPs—as I said, this program has been utilised by GPs for six or seven years—will be extended to specialists and consultants. The package will help these doctors take up the new system, which requires additional software and EFTPOS facilities.

In a previous life I had the joy of being a policy adviser to the Queensland health minister. That year of my life was quite an interesting experience. The health system in Queensland is not quite the health system in New South Wales but it has certainly had some challenges over the last few years. What amazed me time and time again while travelling all around Queensland, which is the most decentralised state, was the failure of software to support the delivery of health services basically because GPs, doctors and state health systems did not talk to each other. All these people had developed software packages and programs over the years but they did not know how to talk to each other. This initiative from the Rudd government goes some way to addressing one of those concerns. As I said, there is a package to help doctors take up this new system.

The change to the 90 Day Pay Doctor Cheque Scheme is expected to cost $4.5 million over four years. However, I understand that most of these costs are associated with helping medical practitioners take up electronic claiming. There are probably some professional development opportunities there for consultants and physicians. This will obviously deliver savings for all of Australia in the long run. For now, other health practitioners like allied health professionals—and it is good to see one of those in the room here: the member for Kingston, who is beside me—and dentists will continue to be excluded from the scheme. But this is an important first step in the right direction. Not only does this scheme help mums, dads and seniors pay their doctors’ bills but it ensures that our doctors will not be left out of pocket.

We all know that there are many pressures on mums, dads and seniors at the moment. We see it every day. We hear about fuel prices, the rising cost of medicine and the problems tracking down health professionals and getting in to see doctors and GPs, but the bill before the House goes some way towards addressing some of those pressures. Prior to me making this speech, my office and I had many meetings with the Brisbane Southside Central Division of General Practice, which is the grouping of GPs on the south side of my electorate. They were very supportive of this initiative. Obviously, as GPs, they have been using it for a while. They saw the benefits. I commend the bill to the House.

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