A man carrying official documents sits in an ambulance next to a coffin
IN PHOTO: A man carrying official documents sits in an ambulance next to a coffin of one of 34 Lebanese victims who died after a boat they were in sank off Indonesia, at Beirut international airport October 31, 2013. Indonesian police said there were 80 people on the motor boat carrying asylum seekers to Australia that sank off the southern coast of Indonesia last month. At least 52 of them were Lebanese, including children, most of them trying to escape poverty in deprived villages in the northern district of Akkar. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki

In what comes as a relief for the people in Australia, the federal government is planning to shake up all procedures, treatments and tests funded under the Medicare system. Not only this, to bring Medicare cheats to book, new regulations are set to be in place.

It has also been decided to subject the methods of paying General Practitioners, or GPs, to a revamp to give more care to patients with chronic conditions. Mental health issues will also be covered under this program.

While announcing why the shake-up was required, Sussan Ley, the Minister for Health remarked, "It has come back to me through every single consultation with doctors that the Medicare system is sluggish, bloated and at high risk of long-term chronic problems." She also stated that several items of Medicare were being improperly used, and that she was for identification of waste and inefficiencies in the system.

Recent research reflects a minimum of about 150 obsolete items funded by Medicare. "Reducing inappropriate tests and procedures is actually delivering better healthcare for patients, ensuring safer and better health outcomes," Associate Professor at Sydney University, Adam Elshaug, has said. He also opined that this will ensure that the saved money gets better utilised in the budget for healthcare.

As far as GP funding is concerned, the ex-president of Australian Medical Association or AMA, Dr Steve Hambleton, will head the review. It has been declared that there won’t be a GP co-payment. About $20 billion worth of Medicare services were paid out by the government in 2014.

After this announcement, reactions from various quarters came pouring in. The Australian Medical Association, while expressing their approval on the above action by the government, called the freeze of Medicare rebates as frustrating. However, the Consumer Health Forum which is the leading patient group of Australia said that this presented a golden opportunity with regard to Medicare modernization.

Meanwhile, Professor Bruce Robinson, the Dean of the University of Sydney will be leading the review of Medicare items.

To contact the writer, email ritambanati@yahoo.com.

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