Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 8:59:30 to 9:02:45
Officials discuss how statistical definitions in the Modified Monash Model (MMM) affect healthcare business models and bulk billing incentives in the ACT.
Topics: Health, Infrastructure
Speakers: Mr Blair Comley, Senator David Pocock, Mr Duncan McIntyre
And I keep getting told that the um MMM rating in Canberra wouldn't, you know, if that if if we change that, it wouldn't do anything. But why then is everything that surrounds Canberra with a different MMM rating have a higher bulk billing rate? Is that something that the government's looking at last time? I asked there was some sort of review um happening into it. Has that been done? Are there recommendations to government to to potentially change um that in the OCT? No.
Senator, the um the MM ratings are um are fixed on statistical definitions that are deliberately set outside those sorts of parameters that governments put their thumb on there set on based on you know the number of population in particular area and the density of the population and so on. Um but the circumstances around the ACT mean that other business models have proved to be more attractive here than they are in other parts of the country in the areas that surround Canberra that where the populations are less dense and um that have a different makeup. Um those models have proved effective, and we're seeing a very substantial increase uh in the rate of bulk billing uh across the country. Uh indeed the RACGP put out uh their survey um this morning, uh which is uh confirming the figures that we have that show a very substantial increase overall in bulk billing and a substantial increase in the number of clinics that are doing that. But in the ACT.
I acknowledge that I'm a senator for the ACT, so I'm really keen to focus on that.
As you know, there was a measure for the ACT with the three clinics on top of the Tugreno Inchange extended funding. They they've opened since July this year. Um we would like to see how much impact they have both on bulk billing directly through those clinics, but but also on whether they provide some market pressure in the ACT. I think the perspective that we would take in the department is we would want to assess what the impact is and then consider whether any other targeted measures might be required. Uh, if to the point that Mr. McIntyre has made, broad bait incentives don't seem to work as well. Here um I think this question about uh overseas trained um medical graduates and M1 versus MM2 and the surrounding things. I think as we've discussed before, um that there are issues potentially in terms of access to overseas medical graduates, but but there are also issues the income level is not trivial difference between some of the surrounding areas of the ACT versus the ACT. It's not an easy problem to fix, but we want to see how these clinics roll out in the first instance.
Sure, but maybe on notice, I've been told before that there was some sort of review happening into uh the triple M system and what could potentially be done for the ACT, so please could you provide that on um uh notice? I'm really keen to get to those um fully bulk billed uh practices. Um but just before I get there quickly, uh do you have the bulk billing rate for children 16 and under in the ACT and the national average?