A prescription for Treasurer Joe Hockey (*)

Here's a way to rein in those galloping Medicare expenses: charge patients on the basis of their live weight - by slapping on a surcharge based on the amount of extra kilograms they carry, compared to the 'norm'. And make them pay for this surcharge out of their own pockets! That extra fat is rendered at once to Medicare...

Before your readers tear me to pieces: I'm - only just - kidding. I have a fat daughter myself.

More seriously, Mr. Hockey should use the knife on payments due to GPs under Medicare. To this somewhat biased observer, these worthy members of our community are getting away with slaughter by slivers!

(I remember how Medicare paid $185 this May for a chatty session with a practice nurse that checked my reflexes and examined my left big toe, and a brief blood pressure and vision test by the GP himself later. Oh, and there was another $9 or so for a blood sample said nurse took. All this for a test as to whether this over-75-year-old could be issued a new driver's license.)

My wife,72, fared worse. She visited another local GP complaining of a painful allergy on her lower legs, to my mind caused by traipsing around too much in the long grass I had neglected to mow.

The worthy doctor proceeded as follows: he first prepared a GP Management Plan (GPMP) charged at $141.40, then charged another $112.05 for "Attendance by GP to co-ordinate the development of Team Care Arrangements (CTAs)". This seemingly was billed for advising the patient that

there was a physiotherapist available at his rooms who could give five free sessions (paid by Medicare) to help with a slight walking problem. She declined the offer.

Oh, and since you ask: I believe a prescription for the allergy was issued during this visit.

The good doctor also took my wife's blood pressure, found it too high and ordered an ECG, for which Medicare was subsequently billed $85. How does the patient know all these details, seeing that the GP usually neglects to give an itemised account or, if s/he does, employs arcane codes that hide the actual service from the uninitiated?

Well, the Government in its wisdom and all-encompassing need for information lets people register at the 'mygov' website where, after jumping through a series of hoops and establishing their credentials - including by giving their partner's date of birth! - they can extract the details of previous visits to GPs.

My wife's prescription for Mr Hockey would be to make the GPs pay the surcharge themselves, out of the payment they receive from Medicare for each billed service. I doubt the Treasurer has the ticker...

A way to prevent all-too-blatant overcharging might be to force doctors to print out the bill with plain-English explanations of all charges.

The patient might then be able to properly remonstrate... I'm sure the Coalition could swing this by simple regulation rather than a change in any laws.

Whatever. Perhaps a dedicated offshore blogging site could be set up to elicit case studies from Australian patients - which could then be used by whoever investigates medical malpractices?

Perhaps I should float the idea on Twitter...


* My preferred headline would be "Malpractice makes perfect"