Liesel Ryan

GP/Educator/Writer/Cheese lover

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AlboMP @SenKatyG @JEChalmers GP appointments may be ‘free’ when patient Medicare rebates are adequate to cover the cost of care. Which is unlikely to happen. Private billing is here to stay.

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AlboMP No. You.Wont. How many times do us GPs have to tell you that unless you raise the value of patient rebates to market value, we will continue to charge patients a gap. Private billing is here to stay

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@JasonClareMP Not free, paid for with taxpayer dollars

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AvidCommentator Just to clarify a little detail - it isn’t the patient rebate itself that is being increased, it is the incentive that a GP will get (but only if they BB that appt) that takes the total value to $69.56.
It may seem like a little detail but it’s not.

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AdamBandt False. GPs are sole traders and set their own fees; the proposal to triple the BB incentive still falls short of the actual cost of care; and healthcare is not ‘free’ (it is paid for by taxpayers)

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AlboMP Unless you plan to mandate that GPs bulk bill (in which case they would have to be seen as gvt employees and therefore also receive paid sick leave, holiday pay, superannuation etc etc) then this is a very misleading statement.

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@Mark_Butler_MP GP visits are not ‘free’, as you well know. They are paid for by taxpayer dollars.

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@gasugasu1984 @stephenjduckett Good question. The answer is hard to pinpoint as BB rates are measured in various ways and are not necessarily accurate. I personally only BB pensioners if they are in dire financial straits, or they pay just like everyone else

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@KMBoof @stephenjduckett I agree 100% Patients really need higher rebates to help with the costs of longer appointments where all the heavy lifting of chronic and mental health occurs

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@stephenjduckett Whether the bulk billing incentive will be indexed to inflation will be a key factor. History suggests otherwise

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@AlboMP Tripling the BB incentive will increase the remuneration for a patient’s consult BUT it still falls short of the actual cost of providing care. I, for one, won’t subsidise patient care out of my own pocket. I will continue to bill privately in order to pay my bills.

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

‘But Labor’s plan will also depend heavily on whether doctors take up the proposed incentive, particularly in metropolitan areas where rents and staff costs are higher’@RACGPPresident @amapresident @AlboMP https://t.co/UoBkOHqabi

[Liesel Ryan @DrLiesel]

@SenSanders We are watching in disbelief from Australia, although we should hardly be surprised given Trump’s record of lying and spreading disinformation wilfully