Psychiatrists want the Tony Abbott treatment — rebates that are 100% of the Medicare schedule fee
The RANZCP has called for sweeping MBS reform in its 2025-26 federal budget submission.
Psychiatrists want to join GPs with Medicare items that pay 100% of the schedule fee rather than 85% for outpatients or 75% for inpatients.Â
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has written to the federal Treasury ahead of the 2025 budget asking for the same sweeping Medicare boost handed to GPs over 20 years ago by then-health minister Tony Abbott.
A key plank of the Howard Government’s successful 2004 re-election campaign, the policy has probably been overshadowed by the co-payment debacle in terms of Mr Abbott’s legacy for healthcare.
But the RANZCP has taken it as a blueprint to help fix Australia’s psychiatry crisis.
