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Australia scraps plan for fee to see doctor
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PRIME Minister Tony Abbott yesterday abandoned a plan to reshape Australia’s universal healthcare system by charging patients a fee to see their doctor, a major back flip for his struggling conservative government.
The A$7 (US$6) “co-payment” fee, included in the May budget, was criticized by the opposition as a sign that Australia was moving toward a US healthcare model.
This comes as Abbott’s, Liberal-National coalition government has hit record low approval ratings.
“The A$7 Medicare co-payment measure announced in the 2014-15 Budget will no longer proceed,” Abbott said in a press release. “The government has listened to the views of the community.”
Instead, the government will cut the rebate it pays doctors, he said, encouraging them to charge adults a A$5 fee at their discretion. Children, the elderly and those on state allowances would be exempt.
The government said that the changes would save A$3.5 billion over four years — A$100 million less than originally proposed.
Abbott is nearing the end of his first full year in office hobbled by missteps and a souring economy.
Faced with a collapse in prices of commodities produced by Australia and an unruly upper house Senate that has held Abbott’s first budget hostage since May, voters have abandoned his conservative government more quickly than any other in three decades.
The Labor Party opposition led the government by 55 percent to 45 percent in the latest Newspoll last month.
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