‘Vote with your feet’ if GPs are not bulk-billing: Butler
Patients should “vote with their feet” and shop around for GP practices that bulk-bill, the federal Minister for Health and Aged Care says. Speaking to…
Tag: Politics
AHPRA says 29 doctors facing complaints over Israel–Gaza war comments
Doctors have been reported to AHPRA over social media posts on the Israel–Palestine war, with the watchdog currently “making enquiries” into 29 doctors and 10…
Medical college axes MSF doctor’s speech over ‘political narrative’
A keynote speech by an Australian doctor currently in Gaza has been dropped from the emergency medicine college’s annual scientific meeting over its ‘political’ content.…
Bulk-billing rate now at 68% for standard GP consults
The bulk-billing rate for item 23 has fallen from 76% in July-September 2022 to 67.9% in the corresponding three months of 2023. The figures are…
Family-run GP business could face nine-year backdated payroll tax bill
A GP practice group with 76 GPs says it faces the prospect of a nine-year backdated payroll tax bill that will possibly run to millions…
Bill Hayden: Prime Minister mourns ‘architect of Medicare’ after death aged 90
Former federal Labor leader and governor-general Bill Hayden is being remembered as a great Australian after his death aged 90. He led Labor in opposition…
GPs excluded as govt signs $7 million deal for nurse-led urgent care clinics
A Medicare urgent care centre contract worth $7.1 million has gone to five nurse-led walk-in clinics with no plans to recruit any GPs. The ACT…
Long-awaited inquiry into COVID-19 dubbed a ‘protection racket’
Epidemiologist Professor Catherine Bennett will jointly lead a 12-month federal inquiry into Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with a health economist and a…
Qld payroll tax fix worth short-term pain, says accountant
A new payroll tax ruling in Queensland will mean short-term costs for GP practices as they restructure but ultimately beats the alternative, a tax adviser…
GP payroll tax protections unlikely, says state AMA
Daniel Andrews’ Government seems unlikely to offer any payroll tax protections for GPs, leaving practices open to retrospective tax bills of hundreds of thousands of…
