States offering cash to GP practices — is it good news or a bad sign?
New AMA Tasmania president Dr Meg Creely rejects the principle of the funding, which should be a federal responsibility.
A 2025 state election pledge to fund five new government-run bulk-billing practices — dubbed the ‘TassieDoc’ clinics — left local GPs bewildered.
The main concern about the idea from Tasmanian Labor was that some practices would be in areas with well-established practices, not in those desperate for GPs.
The Liberal Party then adopted the Labor policy — at least in name.
After winning the election, it decided to redirect the money to help existing bulk-billing practices rather than establish new ones.
