Fee for visiting a GP

[donnashuggy]

What people really think: 

[**meep**]

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@purple_haize wrote:

Only older people that have either a concession  card or pension card are exempt.

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Under the proposal, pensioners and concession card holders would be exempt from the fee, while families would be granted up to 12 bulk-billed visits annually.

Sorry, I was under the impression that Health Care Cards available to Low Income Earners came under the category of Concession Cards and were separate from Pensioner Concession Cards.

Can someone please explain the difference?  Why are pensioners and concession card holders exempt?

[***super_nova***]

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@**meep** wrote:

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Can someone please explain the difference?  Why are pensioners and concession card holders exempt?

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Because they are the poorest in our society.  Pensioner have pension card, and unemployed people, or people with very low income have concession card, which I believe does not entitle them to as much as pensioner card, and has a time limit.  However young people with couple of kids and huge mortgage or expensive rent do not have much disposable income, but their actual income is too high to qualify. 

[**meep**]

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@freakiness wrote:

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@**meep** wrote:

I think 12 free visits per year is reasonable.

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Those who need more visits than 12 visits per year probably have other medical related expenses to worry about as well.  Who are we to declare 12 visits is enough for a child with serious health issues who needs to see a doctor more regularly?

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Wouldn't someone with serious health issues be under a specialist care? 

My child was under a specialist care for a few years and saw a specialist at a Children's Hospital. 

Are children under 16 no longer automatically bulk billed?  

Will the fee also apply to children under 16?

Where can I find details of the proposal?

[**meep**]

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@***super_nova*** wrote:

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@**meep** wrote:

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Can someone please explain the difference?  Why are pensioners and concession card holders exempt?

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Because they are the poorest in our society.  Pensioner have pension card, and unemployed people, or people with very low income have concession card, which I believe does not entitle them to as much as pensioner card, and has a time limit.  However young people with couple of kids and huge mortgage or expensive rent do not have much disposable income, but their actual income is too high to qualify. 

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Are you agreeing with me then that the following is incorrect:

Only older people that have either a concession  card or pension card are exempt.

Which is what my post/question was in reference to?

[***super_nova***]

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@**meep** wrote:

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@freakiness wrote:

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@**meep** wrote:

I think 12 free visits per year is reasonable.

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Those who need more visits than 12 visits per year probably have other medical related expenses to worry about as well.  Who are we to declare 12 visits is enough for a child with serious health issues who needs to see a doctor more regularly?

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Wouldn't someone with serious health issues be under a specialist care? 

My child was under a specialist care for a few years and saw a specialist at a Children's Hospital. 

Are children under 16 no longer automatically bulk billed?  

Will the fee also apply to children under 16?

Where can I find details of the proposal?

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yes you are right children hospital is free.  But that does not mean that you go there for everything.

For instance, i once knew people who had several kids, one of them born with severe heart problem, which required whole series of operations and they were obviously done in hospital.  But the child had to be taken to doctor every time there was a slightest infection, cough, runny nose.  Also the child's siblings had to be kept as infection free as possible. 

I do not know the details, but I know that the mother was for ever going to see the local doctor.  That was many years ago, before bulk billing was normal, and we lived outside of metropolitan area; you had to pay and then claim from medibank , which was 30km drive, and even when you claimed you were always out of pocket.  I remember one day seeing her in tears because the doctor charged her separate visits when she took all the kids, and then she had close $200 worth of medications to get - that was some 30 years, so $200 was lot of money, probably equivalent to reasonable weekly wage.

Anyway, outpatients is also not really feasible for people who live outside of metropolitan area.

[**meep**]

Without knowing what is actually being considered, it is really difficult for me to comment either way. 

Until then, the following statement probably sums up my opinion:

Bill Glasson, the doctor who wants to take Kevin Rudd's old seat for the Coalition, has said a proposal for patients to pay a $6 fee to see a GP is worth considering.

But Dr Glasson, a former president of the Australian Medical Association, said he would need to be satisfied that vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and indigenous people would not be hurt by such a change.

Dr Glasson said he had not seen the details of the proposal, but acknowledged that growth in health costs was not sustainable.

[punch*drunk]

Some children with chronic or serious ongoing health problems have their own health care card even if the rest of the family doesnt qualify for one.

Where did they arrive at the figure of 12 visits per family before being charged? Surely there was some kind of research done that indicated this was a reasonable amount.

To be fair though, it probably should be a per person or per child figure, some families have loads of kids and they would run out of free visits a lot quicker than the typical 2 - 3 children families.

[**meep**]

Genuine question here, since when are children under 16 no longer entitled to free GP consultations?

[punch*drunk]

I never knew it was an entitlement. I thought it was something that dostors chose to do. I'm sure i used to pay for my kids dr visits years ago and then a sign went up in the cllinic that children would be bulk billed. I always thought it was something they did by choice, but i could very well be wrong.

We dont have any concession cards so I will have to start paying after 12 visits if they bring this in.

Am i correct in thinking the 12 visits is just for bulk billing? my husband and I already pay 30+ dollars to see a doctor, will they be adding the $6 on top of that too or including those visits in the 12? Or does it really just apply to my kids and therefore they will have 12 visits between the 2 of them befor I'd have to pay?

Its all very confusing.

[**meep**]

I never knew it was an entitlement. I thought it was something that dostors chose to do.

It was (is??) a Medicare initiative.   All children under 16 were entitled.  I am 99.9% sure.  Same with Dental Care.