THE Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has expressed support for an independent review of Medicare non-compliance and has urged the Australian Government to offer more assistance for general practice care in the upcoming May Budget.
The review was conducted by Dr Pradeep Philip and found that leakage in the Medicare system is mainly due to non-compliance errors caused by the complex system, rather than deliberate fraud.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the report's findings, which cleared GPs of any allegations of Medicare rorting.
She said that GPs are struggling with a fiendishly complex Medicare Benefits Schedule and that an educative, rather than a punitive approach from the Health Department, would be more beneficial.
The RACGP is committed to working with the government to simplify the system and provide more support for general practice care.
