The RACGP’s top priority going into the federal election will be increasing the Medicare rebate for Level C and D consults.
The RACGP will be banging a familiar drum ahead of this federal election, with its top advocacy priority set to be securing a significant increase to MBS rebates for consults lasting between 20 and 60 minutes.
Eagle-eyed readers will note that this was also a key ask ahead of the 2024 budget. And the year before that.
This time around, however, the college has upped its recommended increase from 20% to 40%.
“We know that Medicare has been underfunded for decades, but particularly these longer consultations are the ones that are being have been most underfunded,” RACGP president Dr Michael Wright told The Medical Republic.
Focusing on Level C and D consults, he said, will support GPs providing the most complex care.
“We know that the average appointment length is going up, and so we need more support for this longer and more complex care, for the patients who need it, but and for the GPs who are providing it,” said Dr Wright.
According to college modelling, an increase to the Medicare rebate for long consults of 40% would be enough to not only boost bulk-billing rates, but also decrease out-of-pocket costs for privately billed patients.
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“Different practices have different billing practices, and so we want all patients to be supported by a better funded Medicare,” the RACGP president said.
Dr Wright also said the college would be supportive of a national approach to incentives for junior doctors to undertake GP training, something that General Practice Registrars Australia has also listed as a priority.
It will also be requesting funding to train an extra 100 GPs per year over the next five years.
It comes after a bumper year for GP training intake, where states which had individual incentives for junior doctors choosing general practice saw a greater proportional increase in registrars.
“We think [incentives are] a great measure to encourage more of our brightest doctors to go into general practice and or to choose general practice and to not have financial barriers to choosing general practice,” Dr Wright said.
The RACGP’s third big ask will be extending eligibility for the annual GP health assessments to all women in an effort to improve care for health issues like endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain, menopause and perimenopause.