THE REAL COST OF ABBOTT’S DECISION TO SCRAP MEDICARE LOCALS The Abbott Government’s decision to close all 61 Medicare Locals and replace them with 30 new health bureaucracies is another blow for good primary healthcare in our community and a blow to the Budget. The boundaries for the Primary Healthcare Networks for Blair are grossly inadequate and are a shameful waste of tax-payers money. Despite promising before the last election that not a single Medicare Local would close, the Government now plans to close every single one, replacing them with Primary Healthcare Networks. At 30, there will be fewer than half previous number of Medicare Locals. There will only be one PHN for all of North Queensland and only two for the whole of South Australia. One Medicare Local in Western Australia will cover over 90 per cent of the state - from top to bottom. The PHN for people living in Ipswich and the Somerset region, will cover all the way south from Goondiwindi, north to Nanango and to the west of Miles. Medicare Locals were established to respond to the specific health needs of local communities and we saw that firsthand in our community. West Moreton Oxley Medicare Local has provided the highest possible standard of service to Ipswich and the Somerset Region during its tenure and I commend them. They have set the bar in terms of quality health care and with fewer than half the number of their predecessors, PHNs already have twice the challenge ahead of them to achieve this. It has been estimated that the cost to close Medicare Locals will be more than $200 million. The revelation will create bureaucratic chaos and only add further delays and more costs. Tony Abbott’s decision to break an election promise that no Medicare Locals will close will only put extra stress on a health system that faces more than $50 billion in cuts to hospitals, a $1.3 billion increase in the cost of medicines and the GP Tax which will rip the heart out of Medicare and drive up the costs of diagnostics. Tony Abbott promised before the last election that not a single Medicare Local would close. Just as he lied about cuts to pensions, lied about cuts to health, and lied about introducing no new taxes, today’s announcement is proof he also lied about not shutting Medicare Locals.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:03:06 +0000
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