Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

The fact of the matter is that hip arthroscopy for FAI has never been allowed or available under Medicare. There were some who wanted it to be available, but it was not done. What we also know is that the Medical Services Advisory Committee has been concerned that some doctors were inappropriately claiming for items to which they were not entitled. It is a very important principle that we shouldn't have improper claiming. There has been no change to the access to hip arthroscopy because hip arthroscopy for FAI has not been an available item under Medicare. There are some who wanted it. There are some, sadly, that the Medical Services Advisory Committee of Australia, the independent medical umpire, has identified as having been inappropriately co-claiming. It would be a very small minority, I'm certain, but the fact they have pointed that out and highlighted it has meant that this will mean these doctors will not continue to proceed with what was inappropriately done, inappropriately claimed. We know that there is strong precedence for this. I see the member for Ballarat. The member for Ballarat, in an article in The Guardian on, I think, 16 April 2015, boasted of saving a billion dollars from Medicare by making changes to Medicare items. In this case, we have not taken anything away. It has not existed previously. There continues to be clear medical advice from the Medical Services Advisory Committee that that should not change and that there should be no change to current practice.

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