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NewsBREAKING: GP Co-payments are going, going, gone
BREAKING: GP Co-payments are going, going, gone

BREAKING: GP Co-payments are going, going, gone

Tags: Cost of Living Private Health Insurance FiftyUp Club News Sticking Up for FiftyUps
Last updated by Joel Gibson on

GP-copaymentCongratulations, members. You did it!

There are front-page reports today (pictured) confirming what many suspected – that the Federal Government has heeded the concerns of the FiftyUp Club and other groups and shelved its plans for GP co-payments.[1]

CLICK HERE to send a Thankyou email to Health Minister Peter Dutton

As you’ll recall, FiftyUp Club Chairman John Mangos met with Health Minister Peter Dutton in Canberra in August to present the results of a 11,000-member survey on healthcare costs.

The survey showed deep anxiety among over-50s about the soaring costs of keeping well, particularly the impact of co-payments on older Australians and rising health insurance premiums.

Mr Dutton listened to our members’ concerns on co-payments and has now acted with his fellow cabinet ministers to shelve the plans, according to reports today and yesterday.

The apparent backdown on co-payments is a huge win for our members and for all older Australians.

According to member polls, FiftyUp Club members are supportive of reform but are doing it tough, and felt they were being asked to shoulder more than their fair share.

The FiftyUp Club’s healthcare costs survey showed the co-payment plans were a political deal-breaker for many older Australians.

More than two-thirds of FiftyUps surveyed believe the health system is currently unsustainable and are prepared to contribute to reforming it.

However, 30% said the proposed co-payments would force them to avoid the doctor when sick, or go to hospital instead, and could change how they vote.

This result shows the real political power of FiftyUps when they do work together to make their voice heard to policymakers and businesses.

CLICK HERE to send a Thankyou email to Health Minister Peter Dutton

[1] “Federal government to shelve $7 GP co-payment policy”, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/federal-government-to-shelve-7-gp-copayment-policy-20141126-11ul0w.html

Originally posted on .

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BREAKING: GP Co-payments are going, going, gone

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Doreen
Doreen from QLD commented:

I am far from rich but had no problem with this $7 fee. So now the bludgers will still have money to buy cigarettes & booze continue to expect to be treated at emergency departments etc for free. Hope they realise that when they become ill there will not be any way of treating them because medical research has run out of money. 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD commented:

Sad day for Australia, we will continue to see the health system abused and costing more tax payers dollars, Shame on you over 50'S. Now the government will have to find the funds from other sources which will most definitely hit our pockets. Meanwhile the health system can continue to be abused and doctors can continue to bulk bill willy nilly for small insignificant scripts. costing us $37 for a 30 sec prescription. The system sucks and rorting is outrageous. The co-payment would have put a stop to a lot of this. Look forward to increased taxes now to support our over $6billion health budget. Money don't grow on trees. When ya get something for nothing guaranteed it will be abused!!!! 

Joffre
Joffre from VIC commented:

In reply to Alain from NSW, you obviously listen to the Fairfax media or ABC which thankfully has had their spending cut. 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Joffre:

No, neither, I get great laughs from 2GB, from their Hitlerian approach to everything in our country... 

Brian
Brian from VIC commented:

Will not thank Health Minister Peter Dutton as the Government was forced into abandoning the $7 co payment. Current Government intent to take money from lower income earners and pensions rather than big earners and large companies.Thank God Government's current uneven financial policies are in a shambles! 

Megan
Megan from VIC commented:

If only, but like the petrol levy, this sneaky bunch of liars will just drop the medicare rebate to doctors so we have to make up thr difference. Funny how its not about a research fund anymore but they are now saying medicare isnt free and someone has to pay, well no it never has been because every tax payer pays their share plus the disability levy. I am so disgusted by the lies, blatant lies we were fed before the election, it may not have changed the result but at least we knew what we were in for 

Joffre
Joffre from VIC commented:

I would have had no problem with paying the $7.00, this is fast becoming a welfare country no one wants to pay for anything, god help the next generation as they will be paying for the greed from this one thanks to the ALP. 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Joffre:

Do you listen to 2GB? 

Allan
Allan from NSW commented:

Another victory for the minority brain dead. The welfare grab mentality without any thought to the budget and medical research. 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Allan:

We are doing fine in Australia, the 'budget emergency' is a creation, a pure work of fiction of the far right of politics as we are experiencing it now. They needed it to justify what they are now trying to implement (without warning, neither success, thank God) Check the figures of other countries and appreciate our lucky we still are, here, downunder... 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD replied to Alain:

Alain you are kidding aren't you, please take a look at this link http://www.australiandebtclock.com.au/ You will notice our debt is going up over $1000/ second in interest, now that is scary. To say it is a work of fiction is extremely naïve . 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Stephen:

Debt is necessary to go forward in any country, the dramatization of it by the Libs is the problem... 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD replied to Alain:

Sorry Alain I don't like to be I debt. Do the sums, Let's be conservative and say the debt is increasing at just $1000/ sec that is 60x60x24x1000= $86,400,000 PER DAY! The interest at 2.71% is costing us $10,064,000,000 per year. how many workers in Australia, lets say 13 million (conservative more like 12million) that's $774.15 in interest alone each and that will grow to over $1000 in just interest in no time. Debt does not help us go forward, on the contrary it keeps us going backwards. That $10billion in interest we pay could go health roads or whatever. It is always the issue bout the Libs. Debt is Debt. And be honest Alain do you like being in debt! Free health will be abused as is anything for free! The more it is abused the more we will have to pay! 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Stephen:

What is wrong with eliminating the loopholes in our taxation system? With taxing the Googles, the Apples, the eBays , etc... etc,... of this planet? What is wrong with putting pressure on countries like Luxembourg, Switzerland to NOT implement the so-called "TAX RULINGS" which allow the richest among us to dodge our taxation system? Why allow speculation on real estate, why prevent first home buyers to enter the market? Remove negative gearing and tax the acquisition of a second, third, etc property... Can I also ask you: Why, years ago, was there a joke going around: If you don't want to pay a cent in taxes write your name as "Kerry Packer" at the top of the page of your tax return... In the same cast as Abbott's policy on rich mums paid to stay at home when a baby is born... And remember what our debt is in relation to our GDP, so you do not have a case, Stephen. Let's restart the car industry, a manufacturing industry (lets not rely ONLY on coal and iron ore) let's become the 'clever country', again, with a ministry of sciences for example (!!!), let's act on climate change (that single problem, alone, yes is going to cost us our economy, is going to send us to the list of third world countries, we need a PM with a vision...) ... 

Alain
Alain from NSW commented:

It took a country like France 50 years to implement a co-payment of... ONE (1) Euro, so what make this bunch of incompetent pollies believe that it is ok to bump the cost of a visit to a GP by +600% of what is -really- acceptable (without a pre-election warning, the liars)? And to implement it thru the 'back door' would be even more dishonest... If they need $ to correct their budget (out of whack due to wrong prediction by Hockey on the cost of iron ore, he tabled the budget on a cost of AUD100/ton, check what it's at now...$70/ton !) there is plenty of $ to be made from real estate speculation, from taxing the RICH, the large multinationals (eBay for example invoice from Switzerland of all tax heavens and eBay do not pay a red hot cent in TAXES in AUSTRALIA)... 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD replied to Alain:

Once again another naïve statement. this co-payment isn't necessarily to assist the budget it is more to curb the abuse and rorting that goes on. Rather than make money it will save money and will free up some of our services to people who abuse the system and go to a bulk bill doctor with a headache. And believe me there are worse, I know my wife works in a bulk billing clinic, she is amazed!!! 

Colleen
Colleen from NSW replied to Alain:

I'm not quite sure what give the rest of us the right to use "the RICH" as a milch cow. Explain that would you? 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Colleen:

The richer, the more taxes you should pay (proportionately), please, refer tax on the rich in the country I mentioned earlier, France, any $ over an income of one million $ over there is taxed at 75%... 

Colleen
Colleen from NSW replied to Alain:

We already pay 45c on the dollar over $180,000. This has been the case for years. So what gives us the right to put a tap on the bank account of anybody who earns over $1,000,000 a year? 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Colleen:

Decency and common sense, desperately lacking nowadays 

Colleen
Colleen from NSW replied to Alain:

So do we draw a line somewhere, or do we continue to syphon off their excess dollars until they're as broke as me? And when we have, who will be financially sound enough to employ my grand-children..... and yours? 

Alain
Alain from NSW replied to Colleen:

Decency should prevent any government to take from the poor to give to the rich, but this government lacks ethics. There is NO emergency budget and there is PLENTY of money available if one wants to tax the rich and the dishonest tax dodgers. 

Gillian
Gillian from NSW commented:

The Fifty Ups who support the $7 co-payment to visit a Doctor need to realise that none of this money was going towards our health system. $2 was going directly to the GPs and the rest was going into a research fund, not 1 cent of it was going to improve our health system. Therefore our health system would not have changed in any way at all. The $7 co-payment would have soon become a lot more than that until we ended up with a 2 tier health service, those that could afford to go to the Doctors and those who could not. It would also have placed added pressure onto our hospital system, because something that could have easily have been dealt with by a GP would have ended up becoming a lot more serious than it needed to become and a possible hospital stay would have been the outcome. If pensioner's in a great many cases are having major problems making ends meet as it is , because the cost of living is continually rising at a rate of knots that is hard to keep up with, where are they supposed to find $7 from, it's not as if it could be picked off a money tree in the back garden, is it. We should be very glad that this has been shelved at least for now, it would not surprise me in the slightest to see it raise it's ugly head again in the future. What happens in another country has nothing to do with us, New Zealand is not Australia and never will be. 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD replied to Gillian:

Totally disagree Gillian, the system is abused outrageously and is costing 10's of millions in abuse. I know this because of links with bulk billing medical centres. Did you know that a patient who needs a repeat script cannot request the doctor to send one through reception but instead insist the patient has a consultation which takes 2 mins. and then the patient comes out with that script. Meanwhile it has cost us the tax payer $37.00. This is just the tip of the ice berg so much rorting goes on it is astounding. And funds going to research is fantastic as this puts us possibly on the forefront of possibly finding new cures etc. for disease. Gillian someone has to pay the nearly $7billion dollars and rising health budget! The $7 (2 cups of coffee or a Macca breakfast) will help stop abuse and will free up our medical centres. This has to be a good thing. Gee we could be living in America!!! 

Gillian
Gillian from NSW replied to Stephen:

The way things are going we will end up with the same system as they have in America, don't worry to much about that. As the majority of pensioners would be unable to afford to sit in a Maccas drinking coffee i can't see where that fits in, but even if they could afford an occasional cup of coffee or tea are they committing some kind of major crime, strange as it may seem to you everybody needs a very small treat every now and then, for all you know they may be there to keep cool or warm, because a cup of tea or coffee is cheaper than running their heater or air conditioner. Not being completely stupid of course i know you have to see a Doctor to get a repeat prescription and i don't disagree with you on this issue. There may well be rorting, but it isn't people who are on unemployment, the DSP or the aged pension that are doing the rorting ,as long as you don't have a chronic disease getting a prescription should be eastier, i go to the Doctor as little as possible even though i have a chronic disease my self,I agree on the research as well, but not if you are taking from the ones that can least afford it, if you haven't got $7 you can't pluck it out of midair. Don't you think it's about time they filled the holes the rich use to avoid paying as much tax as they should be, that would be a great deal fairer in every way, then a co-payment may not be necessary,Now the rich are paying extra tax for 3 years then everything will go back to the way it has always been, but for everybody else it will be ongoing whether they can afford it or not.Also we have one of the lowest debts in the OECD compared to a lot of other countries who's dept is around 80% of GDP, so where is there a budget emergency. As for aged pensions that could have been fixed decades ago,by taking a certain percentage of everybodys wage and placing it into a separate account,which would have given all a basic pension,all the government would have to do is make it up to a livable amount, problem solved. 

Stephen
Stephen from QLD replied to Gillian:

You didn't give an answer to the rorting Gillian and I am not going to mention the biggest culprits other than they are on your list of so called non rorters! Anyway the issue is we are a population of 23 million people of which approx. $12.5 million work. I can't see myself retiring because I wont be able to afford to. You say we aren't as bad as other OEC countries and yet we see the same issue in fact worse in UK, Germany and France. Of course Italy is nearly broke Greece is broke along with Portugal, USA owes Trillions to China and the list goes on. $7 is a drop in the ocean, and as for the chronically ill, the gov compensated for these areas. As for the rich, that raises a whole new issue Gillian and firstly one has to describe where is that line drawn as far as who is rich? That is a worrying comment and leans close to the very far left. What is the definition of rich. We in Australia are in the top 5% richest in the world per head! Many are far far worse off. Many so called rich pay a majority of the taxes that sustain our health system and beyond. Our other problem is the age old baby boomer issue of which I am one. We are about to (and in fact it has already started) put a huge strain on the gov. with health, pensions etc. We are going to leave a huge hole in the gov tax revenue. But now we are on pensions, and using the health system which has to be funded and paid for. And that is why we are raising retirement age. It is a catch 22 Gillian, the $7 will stop the rorting and abuse, and will save the gov in costs at the same time free up some of our medical centres and make life easier for pensioners. I disagree the majority of pensioners not being able to afford a coffee. Majority is another anomaly. Yes there are some who may not be able but not the majority. those who cant afford it should not have to pay the $7, simple as that. Call me old fashioned, but if there is anything for nothing, there is ALWAYS A CATCH! Nothing in this world is for free. 

Gillian
Gillian from NSW replied to Stephen:

You either still work or you are a self funded retiree, you will always get people that rort the system, they are usually in the minority and give the majority a bad name. I assumed you were referring to the medical industry as you most definitely didn't mention anybody else, because i'm absolutely certain i can read. There are so many loopholes that the rich and corporations can use to avoid paying tax it is something of joke. Why do you think they employ tax agents, just for fun, they employ them because they know all the loopholes there are to save their employer from paying as much tax as they possible can. An ordinary PAYE does not have the same kind of luxury. The $7 could well end up costing the government a lot more money in the end, as those who can't afford to pay that amount however small you may think it is,will no longer go to the Doctors, but end up in hospital instead. Personally i don't believe the Fifty Up Club had that much to do with the $7 co-payment not making it through the Senate, it had more to do with the way the Independent MPs voted as they have control now, not the Greens. Complaining about it isn't going to change the fact that at this moment in time there isn't going to be a $7 co-payment. I have always voted for the LNP but i do not condone what they are trying to do in many areas, including Tertiary Education. Will i vote for them again, i'm not sure about that at the moment, but as there is still not quite 2 years to wait until the next election, i will be watching, listening and keeping myself as informed as i possible can. As i don't usually discuss politics or religion i will wish you a very good evening as i have other things i should be doing. :) 

Gillian
Gillian from NSW replied to Gillian:

Just to add Stephen, i hate communism with a vengeance and there is absolutely no way i would vote for it ever. It's already been tried around the world and has failed miserably. I am neither right nor left but somewhere in the middle, i hope that answer your comment satisfactorily. 

Ronald
Ronald from VIC commented:

why on earth do you think you have done us a favour in opposing something that ultimately is for the benefit of all australians.just like the federal opposition you fail to see the big picture.you really are in fairyland if you believe your submission was the reason why the copayment might be abandoned 

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