Federal Health Minister Mark Butler believes too many specialists are gouging their patients by charging excessive fees. He’s apparently developing plans for a crackdown. Here, neurosurgeon Professor Richard Bittar warns of a looming disaster.

So Mark Butler and his colleagues in the Federal Government have made it clear they want to control how much specialists charge. The accusations against us are clear.

The latest idea seems to be about the health minister testing “constitutional boundaries” by dictating the gap fees specialists can charge if that patient’s specialist care is funded under Medicare.

The question which seems to face the minister and his officials is whether the introduction of laws to do this would fall foul of the constitutional injunctions against civil conscription.