Summary
Date: 6 May 2016
Broadly, the 2016–17 Federal Budget threatens the future and quality of Australian general practice, extending the freeze on Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) into the next decade and presenting little vision for real healthcare reform.
The lengthening of the MBS freeze to 2020 will eventually see over $2 billion removed from Medicare, threatening patient access to vital services – which will become even more pressing for patients from lower socio-economic groups and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.
A range of additional measures will affect the future of general practice, including the trial of the Health Care Homes model of primary health care coordination and the removal of funding from the Practice Incentives Program.