Catholic Health Australia says new legislation introduced to improve the transparency of specialist doctor fees is a “critical” reform, as health costs continue to soar.
The new legislation will allow the federal Government to upload specialist cost data directly to the Medical Costs Finder, an online tool that helps patients understand costs for specialist services.
The Medical Costs Finder is already operating, but its impact has been limited because participation by individual specialists has been voluntary and extremely low, meaning patients often cannot see what a specific doctor actually charges.
The new legislation allowing the government to upload data directly to the Medical Costs Finder will address this gap by using existing Medicare, hospital, and private health insurance data.
“This reform is critical as out-of-pocket costs for specialist care are rising and becoming increasingly unpredictable for patients,” Catholic Health Australia director of health policy Katharine Bassett said.
Dr Bassett said CHA has long called for changes to ensure the Medical Costs Finder is genuinely useful for patients.
While this reform is welcome, it is only the start. Access to specialist care is shaped by a range of factors, and transparency of fees is just one of them. Broader systemic issues affecting access must also be addressed.
“CHA is calling for a comprehensive review of access to specialist care across both public and private settings to ensure people can get the care they need, when they need it,” Dr Bassett said.
“The goal must be a health system where people can access timely specialist care based on need, not on their capacity to absorb unexpected and growing out-of-pocket costs, their postcode, or other structural barriers.”
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Transparency on specialist fees is a welcome and necessary reform (CHA)
