The Federal Government announced yesterday they will be extending the Medicare-subsidised rebates for COVID-19 telehealth consultations for a further six months, offering ongoing assistance to patients and medical practices during the global health pandemic. The telehealth scheme, first implemented at the end of March when the pandemic sent Australia into lockdown, was due to lapse…

Read More

The Federal Government released its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) figures on December 14, revealing a budget deficit for 2016-17 of $33.7 billion. To generate savings and offset the recent expenditure announced last week, Federal Health Minister, The Hon. Sussan Ley MP scrapped incentive payments that encouraged bulk billing of pathology services, such as…

Read More

A/Prof Owler has replaced former AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, whose three-year tenure has ceased. According to A/Prof Owler, one of his first priorities will be to enter into discussions with the Government regarding the AMA’s concerns about patient co-payments and other health-related budget decisions, including public hospital costs, Indigenous health funding and a range…

Read More

Health will likely be buried amid the hot button 2013 federal election topics of asylum seekers, carbon tax and the economy, but that has not stopped our peak health and medical bodies stating their arguments for how health should be managed under any incoming government. Issues ranging from PBS drug listings to chronic disease care,…

Read More