A health check for private hospitals, page-9

I blame the greed of doctors Scott.

Statistics show that the average GP earnings via bulk billed practices is about $235K vs $285K for non bulk billed.
$235K for a GP is very well paid, the extra $50K is just pure greed when it comes out of sick people's pockets, paying gap fees on every single visit.

Not only that people are putting off going to the GP because they can't afford the $50 gap fee, that leads to not only pain & suffering but also potentially avoidable deaths in the case of early stage cancer diagnosis.

So I have zero sympathy for GPs & think they should be all be transferred to State/Territory employees on base salaries & standard hours.
The same with practice managers, that would eliminate the vast majority of fraud in Medicare billing.

There's nothing stopping the private healthcare companies setting up GP practitioners covered by private medical insurance within private hospitals for people who want that option. Again the insurance policy should cover all the costs of a GP visit with a standard contribution by the government in the same way as a private hospital visit.

The healthcare system is failing Australians who need it when they are at their most vulnerable. The last thing you want to worry about when you're facing a potential life threatening illness is money.