TONY Abbott’s first budget is the biggest attack on Australia’s universal healthcare system since it was established 30 years ago.
The budget is an attack that will hurt the most vulnerable in the community, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people living with HIV or a mental illness, the elderly and Australians with complex health needs.
Young men under 26 already face high levels of unemployment and underemployment and are over represented in sharing the burden of mental illness, especially when they identify as LGBTI. It’s hard to get young men to visit their GP in the first place, especially to discuss anything sensitive. This is a problem that is raised every time I discuss men’s health with professionals in the sector and it’s a problem this budget will make worse. It is the reason why the proposed tax on doctor visits will be so harmful to young men in this situation.
Last week I spent the morning with staff at the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON) and saw the progress that was being made in prevention by providing easy access to HIV screening. ACON’s work is reducing rates of infection, providing access to early treatment, as well as better educating the community about safe sexual practices.
There were a number of good examples of exactly the sort of programs governments should be prioritising: funding programs to ensure we have good health literacy, focussing on prevention; and properly resourcing primary care to keep people healthy and out of hospital.
Sadly, none of these are priorities for the current Federal Government.
At a time when there are still over 1000 new HIV infections each year, the last thing the government should be doing is putting barriers in the way of Australians getting access to GPs.
Not only are GPs the cheaper and more efficient end of the health system, they’re the ones who are best qualified to be educating patients on preventive health, detecting diseases before they develop into more serious conditions, as well as preventing hospitalisations.
Putting a barrier in the way of accessing GPs is also a direct contradiction to the Test Often/Treat Early strategy that is in place in a number of states across Australia. It also complicates what has been achieved in negotiating and eventually implementing the next national HIV strategy. It won’t be possible to implement this strategy without a properly-resourced health system, and if this government’s changes are implemented the system will be rendered incapable of doing so effectively.
What’s most telling about the current government is that it does not seem to appreciate just how much $7 is to a lot of people.
For a lot of people this is not an insignificant amount of money and will be the difference between seeing a doctor or not. This is particularly so after taking into account the additional costs the government is determined to impose on blood tests, and of course the cost for referrals and follow-up visits. This is especially unfeasible for young people and for low income earners on fixed incomes. They are costs that will prove to be prohibitive for people in these circumstances and the consequences will be profound.
I’m worried about what the consequences of people not seeing a doctor would be, particularly for people who are at higher risk of contracting HIV or for those living with HIV who require ongoing care. And that is exactly what the intention of this policy is. To send a “price signal” to deter visits that the government believes are unnecessary. I don’t think there are any doctor visits for HIV tests or prostate examinations that are unnecessary visits.
That’s why the Labor opposition will not be supporting the proposal, nor will we entertain any negotiation on it.
Universal access is the fundamental principle of Australia’s universal health system. Leaving aside the massive assault on preventive health programs and billions of dollars in cuts to hospitals, ending bulk billing really would be the first step down the path of ending Medicare.
What is worse is that the government appears to have little concern or understanding of the effect this policy will have. That’s reflected in the government’s plan to increase the price of medicines to $42.70 for scripts for general patients and to $6.90 for concessional patients. These are changes that will absolutely impact upon health outcomes.
It remains to be seen whether the current proposal will be passed by the Parliament, but one thing that appears certain is that this dangerous proposition will persist as long as Tony Abbott is Prime Minister. The government has said it’s not for turning and not for negotiating on the policy, meaning even if it is rejected by the Parliament this time, it doesn’t mean it won’t be subject to horse trading in a different form in the future.
What is certain is that Labor will never support the measure, especially in the context of the government cutting funding for hospitals, increasing the cost of medicines, changing the Medicare Safety Net, and cutting funding for community organisations the LGBTI community relies on through the Department of Health’s Flexible Funds.
Labor is the party of Medicare and has a strong record in health. The next Labor government will again prioritise health and repair the damage being done by this government.
Catherine King is the Ballarat federal Labor MP and Shadow Minister for Health. Follow her on Twitter via @CatherineKingMP
Not only is it an attack on the health of the most vunerable in our community, the working poor will suffer incredible hardship and ill health as they have no concession card and the co-payment will go on forever. Why should the poor pay for medical research that is highly questionable & large number of Australian Scientists are highly critical of this so called ‘medical research centre’. As for the comment above about patients not needing to pay if they have a Chronic Health Care Plan – this is not the case and has been discussed in detail by the Australian Medical Association (AMA). Patients with chronic health conditions would have to obtain a plan for every medical condition, such as one for their depression, one for their blood pressure, one for their arthritis, one for their chronic pain. Not only was chronic health care plans not mentioned in the budget, hockey is inventing policy ideas on the run. In addition Doctors simply do not have the time to write these chronic health care plans. I recently asked my doctor for one and an appointment was made 1 week later for the nurse to draft a chronic health care plan for doctors sign off. This idea of numerous chronic health care plans would not be viable for surgery’s to offer, not to mention many patients simply cant wait a week or two to get a chronic health care plan.
One of the worst ideas in the budget has to be waiting 6 months for Youth Allowance. A young LGBT person who is experiencing abuse and violence at home after coming out to their parents would simply have to live on the streets for six months. A LGBT young person may have to escape domestic violence from their partner and would also end up homeless.
Another cruel and heartless part of this budget was scrapping emergency housing for women escaping domestic violence. Another disturbing cut was to emergency food banks.
It is obvious this government had no care or interest in the thousands of charities across Australia that will be picking up the cost of the $7 co-payment when desperate sick people turn up begging for help to see the doctor, with food, or money for rent simply because they don’t have a basic safety net.
Salvation Army, Anglicare etc simply do not have the funds to cover this sudden increase in homeless youth, sick people and struggling single parents who have lost their family tax benefit payments. In fact most charities run out of money after 6 months (funding from July 1 runs out by Christmas). Where will these people get help? Studies show when welfare cuts were introduced in England, petty crime rates soar with people stealing meat, nappies, formula, sanitary products.
Young LGBT unemployed either get a large HECS loan (if they have year 12) or waste time working for the dole instead of looking for work. Unemployed people wishing to enrol in a certificate course at TAFE (eg Cert IV in Business or Cert IV in Building & Construction) will NOT be eligible for any concession fees as they have no govt allowance & are not eligible to get a VET loan for certificate courses. They would only be eligible to enrol in Diploma courses with year 12 and or relevant work experience. This shuts the door to many young people, including young LGBT people. How can a young person get $5,000 – $10,000 for a course so they can get any benefits. Also who consulted with TAFE or uni’s if they can take 200,000 students early next year? TAFE’s funding has just been cut. The burden will be shifted to these young people’s parents and grandparents if they are lucky enough to have any. As everyone in the community knows there are a lot of LGBT youth who have severe family problems after their parents find out their sexuality.
A more sinister side of this work for the dole program is that people participating in program are no longer listed in unemployment figures (as under Howard government).
All these welfare cuts make no sense as the savings are very minimal and are offset by this govt’s paid parental leave scheme. This government has actually increasing spending even though they claim to have a spending problem. These cuts and changes show an idealogical thought process not based of facts or professional opinion.
So you’re driving back from the funeral of your beloved, and Christopher Pyne sends debt collectors to take your home, if your beloved had a HECS debt, that is now being tripled. I mean honestly, the grave robbing is not an attractive look. But it is familiar. Super companies can still do this to non married couples, unless you fill in a special certificate, that not all provide. These people are not Liberals. They do horrific deeds, then go to Church. They are not real Catholics. But these are the same mob who now send refugees for group beatings and killings.
It was easy at first, stop the boats, deamonize the refugees, the new White Australia Policy with all the scare. Talk about how they are a cost, taking things from others, taking jobs etc. Now, the newer version is to vilify the young, the sick, those who are on a pension. Words such as ungrateful are used, along with dishonest and lazy. They are sending these people up as taking something from others, with slogans such as entitlement must end. I mean seriously? Comming from Joe Hockey, in the top 1 percent of income earners, he must have felt the need to belittle others. Not all of us can achieve a high school on the pshychopath test, but I would put money on that Joe would do well, while smokin a Cubin.
A tax on the sick and dying, is demonstrable. This is a Tax on HIV, on Breast Cancer, on Diabetes, on Heart conditions, on Asthma, and any illness, or simply health check-up or test. Joe Hockey and his nasty little ratbags are bullies. They bully the sick, the homeless, and the marginalised. They bully the dying. They call themselves Catholic, but resemble a Mafia, as the ideology they follow, kills. More people will die from this budget then those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. As if taxing a trip to the doctor was not terrible enough, the fools are to rip out a staggering 80 Billion from hospitals and education. Hospital Wards will shut, as core services are effected.
All this so we can spend 24 Billion on planes from the US. So defence spending can be spared. So as a percentage of GDP, defence spending can rise. So a program the High Court found to be illegal, the School Chaplains Program, can have hundreds of millions of our taxes channelled directly to religious institutions. I am not saying some Chaplains are not fantastic at what they do, but I question giving money to a church, where people are selected on faith, rather than ability.
The budget is out of last century, where it was believed by some the poor and sick were poor and sick, as it was their fault. The budget is about blame. I earn 210k, yet my heavy lifting is just 600, while pensioners and the young loose thousands with the indexation changed. It is a budget of the cruel. I live in the country, are young people out of University, without a job, expected to live on the street, or return to the country, an area with mass unemployment?
It is just sad this budget builds a society of the have nots, and does not take us all on a journey to prosperity. It entrenches poverty, and any politician who stands for this stupid, stands against our ethos of a Fair Go. In times past, any other Liberal Party leader would have booted the treasurer out on his ear, but it seems Tony Abbott is not a leader with Liberal Party values, more a man from last century with an evangelical spite foreign to most good Christians, let alone the average person on the street.
How wonderful is it that when politicians try to win us over by showing us how the budget will affect our community, it stops at LGBT youth issues and HIV – almost assuming this is the be all and end all of LGBT life issues… The figures are used out of context (includes straight people) and as far as I’m aware chronic illnesses with a care plan (such as HIV patients) are exempt from the doctor co-payment… The risk of HIV in my opinion needs to take place years before HIV screening – its a social adjustment (inclusion) problem, not a medical one. So why shouldn’t we pay for our HIV medications? You’ll spend no where near what Tess is (the post above)….
Of course NO Party has ever suggested the full treatment for people Diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria be covered by Medicare. Now as I type the out of pocket expense is around $30,000 to $40,000 and for people under going such a major transformation maintaining a well paying job while transitioning and saving that kind of money in nigh on impossible.
The Gay Trans and Inter-sexed community has never really rallied behind this important cause for the silent T in our alphabet.