Rising costs to see a doctor has led to a doubling of the number of people avoiding a check-up. That's just one of the findings outlined in a new report into the healthcare system and GPs claim they are absorbing more of the costs.
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00:00Your blood pressure is mostly in range.
00:04From his consulting rooms in Mount Druitt on Sydney's western fringe, Dr Lim reviews
00:09data that his patient collected at home.
00:12If I've got a monitor at home, I don't have to be up here getting monitored.
00:16Biggest risk of having strokes and heart attacks is blood pressure.
00:20Seventy-seven-year-old Yvonne Stretton recently ended up in hospital because her blood pressure
00:25spiked.
00:26I don't like being in hospitals, I hate being in hospitals.
00:29She now monitors her blood pressure three times a day and sends the data to Dr Lim's
00:34clinic.
00:35If needed, he can adjust his patient's treatment.
00:38And therefore streamline their care and reduce costs not just for the person, but also for
00:42the whole health system.
00:44A report released today by the Royal College of GPs shows patients paid on average nearly
00:49$75 in 2023 for a consultation of up to 20 minutes.
00:54This year, it was more than $78, while the Medicare rebate stayed at $41.40.
01:01What this means for our patients is that their out-of-pocket gap is increasing.
01:06The report says 7% of people now avoid seeing a doctor for financial reasons.
01:12That's twice as many as a year before.
01:15And it shows GPs are taking a hit.
01:18GPs are increasingly managing the chronic health conditions that come along with an
01:22ageing population, as well as a growing number of patients with mental health concerns.
01:27Now those consultations are more complex.
01:30And so the report says that the average time of an appointment is increasing.
01:35We're calling on the government to increase that Medicare rebate by 20% for, especially
01:40for those longer consultations.
01:42Dr Lim would also like to see funding that supports GPs to keep patients out of hospital.
01:49The government says it's made the largest investment in bulk billing in Medicare history,
01:54but acknowledges there is more to do to strengthen the system.