Impact already from Medicare co-payment

If you’re feeling worried about effects of the budget, you’re not alone. Some are worried we may be seeing emptier waiting rooms, as people put off visiting their doctor.

After releasing its latest Economic and Social Impact Survey (ESIS) – a survey of about 2500 Salvos welfare clients – the Salvation Army has said it is “gravely concerned” for the most vulnerable Australians.

The SA’s Major Bruce Harmer said: “Of particular concern is the $7 Medicare co-contribution fee, which ignores the economic circumstances of the poor.

“Twenty-four per cent of those surveyed for our ESIS report already couldn’t afford medical treatment when needed, and 34% were unable to buy medicines prescribed by the doctor. The $7 fee might just tip more of them over into avoiding a basic doctor’s visit or essential pathology.”

There are real concerns that the co-payment will put some over 60s off their regular health check-ups. Doctors have been voicing fears this week that some patients are already avoiding appointments, wrongly assuming the co-payment came into effect straight away, even though it won’t actually go live until July 2015. The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Hambleton, told the ABC: “We’ve already got some feedback. Certainly from western Sydney there are practices that are saying attendances have dropped and now we’re getting reports from other parts of the country as well.”

Major Harmer said: “While for most Australians a fee of $7 might not sound like much, for someone who lives on less than $35 per day, including their housing costs, this is yet another burden on their already fragile financial situation.”

A worrying statistic to emerge from the survey was the 28% of participants who said they have had to live without heating in at least one room throughout winter. Ninety-one per cent of respondents said they had limited or no savings for emergencies, 38% didn’t have regular social contact, leading to isolation and loneliness, and 47 reported being unable to find someone to help them when they were in need.

Major Harmer went on: “The reality is that people on low incomes are not weighing up the economics of whether or not they will go on an overseas holiday, but instead they will be weighing up whether or not they have the money to see the doctor when necessary or using that $7 to pay for bread to feed themselves or their family for the week. When individuals and families live at or below the poverty-line, these are the sorts of economic decisions they are forced to make.”

Do you know someone likely to be hit hard by the budget? Are you already putting off attending doctor’s surgeries in light of the co-payment? Or do you feel that $7 is not too much to pay for access to good medical care? Have your say in the comments below…