AFTER months, the Abbott government’s plan for a GP co-payment is officially “as dead as a doornail”, to quote one MP.
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Member for Farrer and Health Minister Sussan Ley made the official announcement yesterday.
The plan to introduce a compulsory $7 co-payment came in the Coalition’s first budget in May last year.
Opposition to the plan came from many quarters, not surprisingly Labor and the Greens, as well as doctors and health groups.
It prompted a promise in January from Prime Minister Tony Abbott not to push on with a GP co-payment without consulting doctors and health professionals first, leaving many to wonder why that had not happened in the first place.
Nevertheless, in stepped our own Ms Ley in her first major assignment.
The result led to her announcement the plan was dead in the water.
It will be back to the drawing board now for the Abbott government in coming up with an alternative to raise the $800 million that it had expected the co-payment to save over four years.
It can only be hoped the consultations that came after the decision-making process last time will serve to guide them in any future plans.