Doctors strike over Medicare cuts

Doctors strike over Medicare cuts

By Tuntuni Bhattacharyya and Kamala Emanuel

Hospital doctors struck across NSW, and up to 1000 rallied in Sydney on December 3 to protest the federal government's proposal to restrict Medicare provider numbers for about a third of new doctors.

The strike was preceded by two weeks of rolling stoppages and attempts to negotiate with federal health minister Michael Wooldridge.

Doctors must have Medicare provider numbers in order for their patients to claim a rebate or be bulk-billed. Under the proposal, although new doctors will still be registered, if they practise outside the public hospital system their patients will have to pay fully for their services. The measures would affect 400-600 new doctors each year.

Steven O'Mara, Public Service Association delegate from Westmead Hospital, explained that many new doctors without provider numbers practise in areas of relative shortage. The proposed provider number restrictions would mean that rural patients would have to pay the full fee for doctors' services, he said.

From GLW issue 258