Oh, to have a dollar for every health taskforce review.
The sceptic in me had the recent report into Medicare already relegated to the bookcase of Well-meaning but Detail-Lite Health Reports before the ink was even dry at the printers.
The name itself was positive enough – Strengthening Medicare – until I revisited the previous Federal Government’s Primary Health Care 10 Year Plan 2022-2032 – or should that be 12-month plan? – which also talked about “strengthening” primary health care.
That plan – then-Health Minister Greg Hunt’s last hurrah to general practice – spoke about person-centred primary health care, teamwork and integrated care.
Some of that sounds a lot like Version.2023, which talks about multidisciplinary teams, longer consults and blended funding models. Snap!
Labor’s plan also refers to a ‘strengthened’ role for Primary Health Networks – which had some GPs choking on their Weeties at the thought of putting more funding into bureaucracy rather than the coalface.
Another similarity between the 2022 and 2023 reports is that neither directly addresses the elephant in the room – calls for significant increases to Medicare rebates.
Labor’s plan also refers to a ‘strengthened’ role for Primary Health Networks – which had some GPs choking on their Weeties at the thought of putting more funding into bureaucracy rather than the coalface.
Grossly inadequate increases to what the Commonwealth pays GPs – the rebate for a level B consult went up 65 cents last July – has contributed to the haemorrhaging of the bulk billing system designed to protect the most vulnerable patients.
The Strengthening Medicare report lays out reforms to modernise the health system and bolster general practice, and guides how the Federal Government should invest the $750 million it pledged ahead of last year’s election.
The optimist in me hopes that some of that funding will actually find its way to GPs and their patients.