Doctors are set to discuss how to get the Medicare system out of its mid-life crisis at the AMA's national conference in Brisbane.
Doctors are set to discuss ways to make the Medicare system more efficient after the federal government's failed plan for a GP co-payment.
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The system needs to evolve, but the government is going about it the wrong way, Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler says.
The AMA insists the government's four-year indexation freeze on Medicare rebates amounts to a "co-payment by stealth" because it will force GPs to pass costs on to patients.
"This government seems to have a new agenda of shifting more costs back on to patients," Prof Owler said.
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"There are ways of actually evolving the system where you actually protect the vulnerable."
The AMA's annual three-day conference starts in Brisbane on Friday.
