Major $2.2bn Medicare overhaul welcomed but medical association warns budget will be ‘real test’

National cabinet also plans to work on strengthening renters’ rights, boosting housing supply and affordability, and improving NDIS

Medical groups have praised the $2.2bn Medicare overhaul announced by national cabinet but warned there is more to do to fix the nation’s ailing general practice and hospital systems.

National cabinet committed nearly $1.5bn in new funding to overhaul Medicare, as part of a $2.2bn health plan to boost the number of nurses, increase after-hours care and expand the roles of pharmacists and paramedics.

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ACTU will not push for spot on RBA board as review released – as it happened

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Bandt: if budget can afford stage-three tax cuts it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty.

Bandt is also highly critical of the government as it appears set to reject a call from its very own expert advisory panel to raise the jobseeker rate. He says if the budget can afford to keep stage-three tax cuts, it can afford to lift Australians out of poverty:

Everyday people are not causing inflation. They are the victims of inflation. Now, Labor has found over a quarter of a trillion dollars for tax cuts for billionaires and politicians that can’t lift people out of poverty.

Labor’s not making hard choices in this budget, they’re making everyone else make hard choices, like whether to pay for the rent or whether to put food on the table.

We’ll have a look at all of the recommendations of the review, and the government’s response when it’s released fully but a major party stitch up isn’t going to fix the inflation problem.

We need more than just outsourcing the issue of tackling inflation to the RBA, which is what Liberal and Labor want to do. We know that it is excessive profiteering that is driving higher prices and inflation in this country. It’s not the everyday people.

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Australia news live: seizure of $270m worth of heroin is Queensland’s biggest; RBA interest rates decision due

Australians will find out at 2.30pm AEST whether the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rates hikes after 10 consecutive rises. Follow the day’s news live

Australia’s new high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, says becoming a republic is “inevitable” even if Australians are proud to have the British monarch as their head of state.

In his first interview since taking up the post, Smith told the Times newspaper that most British people would be “indifferent” to Australia getting rid of the monarchy and it would not damage the countries’ relationship.

There is a lot of affection and respect for the monarchy in Australia.

That affection and respect hasn’t gone away because of Australia contemplating from time to time what it should do about its constitutional arrangements.

My personal view is it’s inevitable. But how that’s progressed is entirely a matter for the Australian government of the day.

Our public-sector workers do a great job serving their fellow Victorians and we’re proud to support them. In addition to wage increases, workers will be able to obtain a sign-on bonus while productivity improvements will bring the potential for further advancement of conditions.

The policy provides fair outcomes for employees while being responsible as we deal with the types of budget challenges faced by families, businesses and governments across the world.

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Medicare fraud and non-compliance costing taxpayers up to $3bn, review finds

Government-commissioned report argues structural reform is essential and requires a simpler, clearer billing system

Medicare fraud and non-compliance by doctors is costing taxpayers between $1.5bn and $3bn a year, a conservative estimate that will only increase without system reforms, according to a government-commissioned independent review.

The review into Medicare compliance, led by health economist Dr Pradeep Philip, was commissioned following ongoing concerns about waste and wrongful billing practices.

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Now the public has useful data on bulk-billing we can really push politicians for better healthcare

The widely varying levels of bulk billing across Australia suggest diverse solutions may be needed to restore affordable GP services

Last year Guardian Australia’s medical editor, Melissa Davey, approached the new federal government seeking the release of GP bulk-billing statistics by electorate. Her article today reports on the process and the data she eventually received.

Health policy researchers should applaud Davey’s initiative and persistence in seeking and obtaining this data, which has not been released previously in this form.

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Revealed: more Australians than ever are paying to see a doctor as new data shows worst hit areas

Exclusive: Data obtained by Guardian Australia reveals the areas suffering the biggest drop in fully bulk-billed GP patients

The number of Australians who are fully bulk billed by their GP has dropped significantly in just three years, with one electorate experiencing a decline of 18%, a Guardian Australia investigation reveals.

Experts say the decline of bulk billing – where the full cost of a consultation is paid for by Medicare without any additional gap fees – is putting serious strain on overstretched emergency departments and other health services.

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Mark Butler says increase to Medicare rebate ‘not off the table’

Health minister hits back at criticism from AMA that government report had no immediate recommendations to help Australians access more affordable care

The health minister, Mark Butler, says an increase to the Medicare rebate is not off the table, as the federal government tries to address problems in Australia’s healthcare system.

Butler has also hit back at criticisms a Medicare review initiated by the government did not have tangible recommendations to provide immediate relief.

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An improved My Health Record will be at centre of push to modernise primary healthcare

Better digital systems are to be discussed at national cabinet, while the AMA will call for stronger safeguards to protect patient data

The under-utilised and much-maligned My Health Record will be at the centre of a push to modernise primary healthcare, with better digital systems to be discussed at national cabinet.

The Strengthening Medicare Taskforce has agreed to improve and expand the use of the platform, with a broader range of health professionals able to access and add to digital health records a key recommendation of its report to drive improvements in primary care.

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Czech pair defend Australian Open doubles title; millions of RATs to expire in coming months – as it happened

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There are reports of delayed and diverted flights at Sydney airport after an air control tower was evacuated.

Airservices Australia has told Nine that the incident was sparked by fumes emitting through the air conditioning system, resulting in two international flights being diverted.

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Cancer and other serious illnesses could go undiagnosed if specialists take on GP tasks, RACGP says

Australian peak GP body says ‘overall picture’ of patients’ health will be lost if Medicare changes split care across multiple providers

Australia’s peak GP group is concerned serious conditions such as cancer could be missed if general practice is deprioritised under looming changes to Medicare funding, saying parts of their roles should not be transferred to other health professionals.

As allied health groups suggest nurses, physiotherapists or pharmacists could perform some work currently done by GPs, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said it was “nervous” about patients visiting separate specialists without being monitored by a coordinating doctor.

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Doctors want Medicare rebates to double to stop GPs abandoning bulk-billing

Australian Medical Association calls for rebates to match the increased cost of living, but others say Australia must rethink healthcare as a whole

Medicare rebates to GPs need to double to stem the tide of doctors abandoning bulk billing, the Australian Medical Association has warned, while sounding the alarm over “catastrophically bad” access in rural and regional areas.

Doctors groups claim an increasing number of general practitioners can’t afford to offer bulk billing because federal payments have not kept pace with growing costs.

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Experts decry Labor’s ‘appalling’ plan cut to number of Medicare psychologist sessions

Health minister maintains reform is needed and other mental health advocates back wholesale changes to Better Access system

The federal government is under pressure to scrap controversial plans to halve the number of annual Medicare-backed psychologist appointments, amid claims it has disregarded a key finding of the top level report it relied upon to justify the decision.

The health minister, Mark Butler, maintains reform of the Better Access system is needed, saying the former government’s model led to ballooning wait times and denied access to new patients and those on low incomes.

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Higher Medicare rebates will not cure broken system that rewards ‘speed, not need’, report says

General practices have ‘steady profit margins’ and many are turning away from bulk billing, leaving poorer Australians without access to care, thinktank says

While doctors have called for higher Medicare rebates to meet the rising cost of providing care, a new report from thinktank the Grattan Institute argues that GPs have “steady profit margins” and that more drastic measures are needed to preserve Medicare.

General practices need to be overhauled to employ a team of health workers including physiotherapists and nurses to better manage rising rates of chronic and complex disease, the report led by Grattan health and aged care program director, Peter Breadon, said.

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News live: Australia supports inquiry into Iran death, Wong says; first majority female high court bench

Attorney general Mark Dreyfus has announced the appointment of justice Jayne Jagot to the high court. Follow the day’s news live

Queensland seeking partnerships from the federal government in renewable plan

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, was asked to clarify how long the state will keep exporting coal for:

There’s still going to be countries that need our coal and, of course, the metallurgical coal [that] is needed for steel production. Let’s be clear about that. Until there’s alternative to manufacturing steel, the world will still need metallurgical coal.

The plan is $62bn. We have a $6bn down payment on that … we’ve already got $11bn worth of private investment coming in.

But there will be even more coming in as well. So roughly, it will be around, over $30bn, between $30bn and $40bn we’re providing, but we’re seeking partnerships from the federal government.

Well, in Europe, of course, there’s a lot of reliance on gas coming in from the Ukraine and parts of Russia, is my understanding.

But what we’re doing here very clearly is [ensuring] that the hydro dams get built. And then, as the hydro dams come online, that’s when you start phasing down the reliance on coal-fired power stations.

We’re building sea walls as we speak. People are having to build their houses on 7-to-12-foot stilts above the ground because of the water coming underneath. Ancestral graves that the ABC has reported on are being washed away. This is happening in Queensland. It’s not just an island on the Pacific ocean. It is happening to Queenslanders. To Australians. And we all have a duty to look after one another.

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Rural Victorian town left without bulk-billing doctor after clinic closes doors

Thousands of patients in Mildura region in state’s north-west are unable to access medical records or GP care

About 15,000 patients in and around the rural city of Mildura in Victoria’s north-west have been left without a bulk-billing doctor and are struggling to access their medical records.

The Tristar medical group, which owns the Mildura clinic, went into voluntary administration in May, and after the sale of the clinic to another medical group fell through earlier in August, the clinic has closed its doors.

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Bulk-billing psychologists earn as little as $12 an hour, Australian peak body says

One psychologist was forced to close a thriving practice; another waives her fees for ‘desperate’ patients who can’t get a referral because of GP wait times

Psychologists who predominantly bulk bill are making as little as $12 an hour, which is why it “just isn’t an option for the majority of them”, the executive director of the Australian Association of Psychologists, Tegan Carrison, has said.

Almost half of all Australian adults will face mental ill-health at some point in their lives, but for the most vulnerable of them, accessing affordable mental healthcare has become more difficult as general practitioners and psychologists move away from bulk billing.

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Struggle to find bulk billing clinics for children prompts fears vaccination rates will fall

Poorer families set to be hit most, expert says, while single mothers routinely neglect their own medical needs to afford children’s care

As more GP clinics abandon or significantly reduce bulk billing, parents and carers say it is becoming harder to find a clinic that routinely bulk bills children.

In response to Guardian Australia’s series on the bulk billing crisis, more than 300 people shared their stories of how health care costs are adding pressure to family budgets on top of the rising costs of living.

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‘Unethical’ for GPs to charge to prescribe Covid antivirals, Australian charity says

Council on the Ageing says doctors who charge consultation fee for prescription for older people should be called out

Failing to bulk bill pensioners who require life-saving Covid-19 antivirals is “morally bankrupt” and “unethical”, the head of the national peak body for older Australians has said.

The Council on the Ageing chief executive, Ian Yates, said as growing numbers of general practitioners stop bulk billing, citing rising costs and low Medicare rebates, he is hearing “more and more examples of pensioners not being bulk-billed, especially people with the seniors healthcare card.”

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GPs ditching bulk billing as costs rise and Medicare rebates lag, survey shows

Nearly a quarter of doctors surveyed said they recently changed billing model, as peak body calls for higher rebates

Doctors are increasingly scrapping bulk billing, according to a survey of almost 500 GPs, with stalling Medicare rebates and the costs of running a practice cited as key reasons.

HealthEd, a private professional education company for doctors, surveyed 477 GPs on 2 August and found more than one in five – 22% – had recently changed their billing model.

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Medicare reforms are essential for creating fairer national abortion system, say advocates

Health experts are calling for Medicare item numbers for abortions and pregnancy counselling ahead of women’s safety ministers’ meeting

Medicare item numbers for abortions and pregnancy counselling along with specific funding for reproductive health are needed to create a fairer national abortion system, according to MSI Australia, formerly known as Marie Stopes.

State and federal women’s safety ministers are meeting on Friday for the first time since the Albanese government was elected. A 10-year plan to end violence against women and children, gender equity issues and the need for a specific plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are expected to be discussed.

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