Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Abbott government's changes to the general practice incentives program for after-hours services are yet another attack on Medicare and access to affordable healthcare for all Australians. Recently, I was contacted by—and met with—a well-established, reputable, local general practice in my electorate. As a result of the changes, they will have their PIP payments cut from $44,000 to $14,000 a year. The net effect will be that the practice will have to drastically cut back on after-hours service and around 65 patients per week will not get access to after-hours care. That, in turn, will mean that more people will seek treatment at the emergency departments of public hospitals or defer their doctors visit. Both options are likely to result in a more expensive public health outcome. This surgery has an 80 per cent bulk-billing rate, so increasing patient fees to make up the funding shortfall is not a realistic option. I have written to Minister Ley about this matter, providing her with all the relevant details, and I await her response.

Treating patients at their local practice, by their GP, is the most cost-effective and health-effective option for the patient and the community. The Abbott government should stop trying to dismantle Medicare. It should listen to the front-line health professionals. It should reverse its miserly cuts to the Practice Incentives Program payments and prevent the disastrous health effects that the false savings—these funding cuts—will cause.