VICDOC Winter 2022 - Magazine - Page 69
Click here for
AMAs Federal
Election Statement
Click here for
Clear the Hospital
Log Jam
Click here for
AMAs Vision
for Australia's Health
Click here for
Public Hospital
Cycle of Crisis
Of course, any health reform conversation
has to start with primary care reform and our
Modernise Medicare campaign was launched
once it became clear the previous government
was not going to fund it’s own 10 Year Primary
Health Care Plan. This campaign also resonated
strongly in the community and it resulted in
a commitment of almost $1 billion in the late
stages of the election campaign from Labor
to General Practice grants and primary care
reform. This is, of course, only the starting
point, but should enable the implementation
of Voluntary Patient Enrolment (a key platform
for further investment and reform in General
Practice) along with improved Medicare
funding for after hours care and a greater
investment in multidisciplinary care through
the Workforce Incentive Payment. The AMA
worked closely with the new Minister on the
announcement and will be involved in the
implementation taskforce.
As we look forward, there are many
challenges on the horizon. COVID-19 continues
to impact our community, our workplaces
and our profession. Short term measures to
reduce demand on hospitals and to increase
workforce and capacity are desperately
needed and we need to look at ways to make
our health system more resilient to not just
this pandemic, but other respiratory viruses.
In addition to the public hospital crisis and
the need for investment in General Practice
we also need to look closely at our private
health system. Private Health Insurance (PHI)
coverage rates have increased during the
pandemic, breaking a five-year downward
trend of Australians dropping their cover. But
the lack of value experienced by Australians
(due to a reduced ability to claim for hospital
care), as well as cost of living pressures
and increasing premiums means that, as
DR OMAR KHORSHID
Federal AMA President
welcome as the increase is, it is unlikely to
continue. Insurers are well aware of this and
are increasingly looking to contract doctors
and hospitals into gap-free arrangements
— but this risks the independence of the
profession, undermines the doctor patient
relationship and will ultimately backfire. Whilst
all PHI players claim they are not interested
in managed care, they certainly seem to be
moving in that direction.
The AMA will shortly be holding a private
health industry summit, aimed at bringing
our industry together — working together
towards common goals. We will launch our
paper advocating for a Private Health System
Authority at that summit, and we hope to be
able to take a consensus opinion on private
system reform to the new government.
The election result also means we are likely
to see progress on other issues consistent
with AMA policy, in areas like climate change,
refugee health, the Uluru Statement from the
Heart and of course the creation of a Centre
for Disease Control.
The AMA has a strong working relationship
with both sides of politics and we look
forward to working with the new government,
opposition and cross benchers on all the above
issues, as well as other critical areas like rural
health and aged care. We will make sure
that the acknowledged crises are not used as
excuses to reduce the quality of medical care
or to disadvantage doctors, and that the voice
of the medical profession is heard loud and
clear on all issues around health.
Yours sincerely
Dr Omar Khorshid
Federal AMA President
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