Australian patients will be hit by a new $20 fee for seeing their GP when changes to Medicare, introduced by the Abbott government to save billions of dollars, begin to take effect from next week. Under a little-known 10 minute rule predicted to blow out GP waiting times from January 19, Medicare will pay $20.10 less for consultations lasting six to 10 minutes. For years, Medicare has paid $37.05 towards these Level B visits made by millions of patients each year requiring a new prescription or blood pressure check, for example. It will now pay $16.95, a move doctors warn will destroy free universal healthcare.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:58:54 +0000
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