Council on the Ageing says doctors who charge consultation fee for prescription for older people should be called out
Seventy-year-old pensioner Chris Sitka, who lives in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, said she “begged” her GP to bulk bill her when she caught Covid-19 and needed a script for antivirals.
“If you’re financially strapped you will wait until you’re very sick before you go and pay that money and basically that will be a life-shortening thing. If you let things go they’ll get worse and basically you see that your life expectancy will decline.” “These antivirals have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of death and severe symptoms. To place that at risk for a $40 copayment is morally bankrupt, unethical and should be publicly called out. I also think it should be treated as a breach of professional standards.”
Price said GPs are doing their best to run practices amid rising costs and inadequate Medicare rebates. “But GPs have been required throughout this pandemic to repeatedly put their hands into the pockets of their businesses to keep their practices running,” she said.
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