Australia spending billions on unnecessary medical services

It is the doctors whom we look up to when we are troubled by an illness. However, a recent investigation revealed a large amount of money goes into unnecessary treatment procedures, which may also prove to be harmful for patients.

A special investigation by Four Corners, a television program broadcasted on ABC, showed that many of the treatments suggested by the general practitioners were not only unnecessary and expensive, but they might also have derogatory effects on a patient’s health. According to the report, such treatment procedures cost Australia billions every year.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that Australia spends around AU$155 billion each year on health alone. The figure represents the total spending by the federal and state governments, health insurances and by patients. One-third of this amount is being wasted on unnecessary tests and treatments, according to the investigation.

Associate Professor of Health Care Policy at Sydney University Adam Elshaug, who is also an expert on “low-value care,” identified around 150 medical services that are unsafe and inappropriate, yet receive Medicare and health insurance coverage. According to Elshaug, the entire health system in the country is misusing the funds and in the process putting the patients at risk.

"We know that patients are being harmed by receiving tests and treatments that they should never have received," he said. "There's a cost too, and that cost should also be counted because those are dollars that are wasted and could've been reallocated to other areas of medicine."

Professor Robyn Ward, chair of the Medical Services Advisory Committee, said most patients are totally unaware of the kind of treatments they are made to go through. The committee reviews the proposals to add new services to the Medical Benefits Schedule, which comprises of around 5,700 services reimbursed by the Medicare. The Malcolm Turnbull government on Sunday launched a review of the services, most of which have not been assessed in a long time. Health Minister Sussan Ley said in a statement on Sunday that the review will focus on each item on the list to check whether they are still effective, out-of-date or even harmful.

"There is not a great understanding among the average person that potentially these treatments or tests are offering very little in the way of outcomes, and are sometimes actually harming people and leading to a whole lot of other events, like other interventions, surgery even, that in itself has side effects," said Ward.

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