The Abbott Government’s GP Tax will be a red tape nightmare for doctors according to a new independent report prepared for the Australian Medical Association.
The report – The Red Tape Burden of the Proposed Medical Services Co-payment also shows the GP Tax could put many practices out of business.
Under the GP Tax, the Medicare Rebate for general practice, pathology, and diagnostic imaging will be cut by $5.
The cut is meant to be recouped with the $7 fee delivering an additional $2 for every consultation.
However, the report finds the cumulative effect of the rebate cut and GP Tax will be an administrative and financial nightmare that could make some practices unviable.
The report estimates the additional red tape burden is between $1.41 per service and $1.61 per service, all but wiping out the additional $2 practices are supposed to earn.
But when the cost of bad debts is taken into account, those doctors able to levy the GP Tax on their patients are more likely to end up going backwards.
Labor has been warning all year the GP Tax will be a disaster for health, and a disaster for patients. Now we have proof the GP Tax is also a disaster for small business, by adding to the red tape burden for GP practices and clinics.
It’s now long overdue for the Abbott Government to listen to what Labor and most experts and health professionals have been telling it since day one and scrap its disastrous GP Tax.