Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Health Insurance Amendment (Prescribed Fees) Bill 2021. The bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to remove the requirement for new specialists and consultant physicians to pay a prescribed fee when applying for recognition for higher Medicare rebates. It reaffirms the Morrison government's commitment to cutting red tape and ensuring better access to health services for all Australians.

This amendment is a small amendment, but the changes will ease the bureaucratic process for recognition as a new specialist or consultant physician for Medicare purposes under the Health Insurance Act 1973. It does this by removing the requirement to pay a $30 fee to gain access to higher Medicare rebates. As it stands at the moment, the current pathway to recognise a specialist or a consultant physician requires a medical practitioner who has gained fellowship with a specialist medical college to supply to Services Australia for access to higher Medicare rebates. As part of this process, the medical practitioner must pay the prescribed fee, $30, via money order or cheque. Only then can the application be processed.

This simple amendment will reduce the cost and processing times for new specialists and consultant physicians to be recognised for Medicare purposes, therefore providing more efficient patient access to higher Medicare rebates. During the COVID crisis, it became apparent that this method of payment was impacting specialist and consultant physician recognition for the purposes of Medicare. This was mainly because neither method of payment was efficient or practical during movement restrictions and in-person service closures. As a result, patients of new specialists or consultant physicians may not have been able to receive higher Medicare rebates when they were entitled to.

These changes will not only remove costs for physicians and provide better access for patients; they will also make it easier for Services Australia to more efficiently process applications from new specialists and consultant physicians, ensuring earlier access for patients to higher rebates. If this change is not made, patients of new specialists and consultants may not be able to receive higher medical rebates during any future movement restrictions and/or reductions in in-person service availability. In the past, this requirement has delayed access to higher Medicare rebates.

The government has done a lot to assist with patients access to better health care. More Australians are now seeing their doctor without having to pay. Nearly nine out of 10 visits are free. The GP bulk-billing rate was 89.3 per cent in 2020, compared to 81.9 per cent in 2012-13, Labor's last year in government. In total, there were 440 million Medicare services last year, with $25.9 billion in total benefits paid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have extended Medicare subsidised telehealth services, enabling more than 50 million consultations since the crisis began.

In summary, this amendment, which is a rather simple and small amendment, will reduce red tape and improve efficiency so patients have better access to health care. We don't want our doctors consumed with paperwork. We want them to treat patients. I support the changes.

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