The Abbott Government’s negotiations with the AMA to amend its GP Tax are a long overdue admission the $920 million a year slug on patients is a deeply unfair attack on decent, affordable health care.
Despite Minister Dutton’s repeated claims he would not negotiate on the tax, it’s now clear the Government is planning to back down.
But amending the GP Tax is not enough. It must be scrapped completely.
Minister Dutton has admitted that his GP tax is deliberately designed to stop people going to the GP and reduce the number of GP visits.
Policies designed to put a barrier in the way of access to GPs fundamentally undermines Medicare and is bad long term health policy.
If reports today are correct, Minister Dutton appears to be considering a new red tape nightmare for families and doctors, with patients divided into categories where some pay the entire amount, and others get some concession.
This is completely unacceptable to Labor.
You cannot amend a bad tax, Minister Dutton.
Axe the GP Tax now and abandon your deeply unfair and regressive attack on patients.