Insufficient Medicare Rebate Drives GP Shortage

Vulnerable Australians are missing out on adequate healthcare because the Medicare rebate is failing to keep up with the costs of providing services, leading to a critical GP shortage, community health organisations say.

Not-for-profit community health organisation Cohealth, which provides a GP to people sleeping rough, has not been unable to operate its service in Melbourne’s CBD for more than nine months due to a lack of Doctors.

Health experts are pleading for a commitment to increased funding for GPs after figures reveal that lower-income areas are among those most disadvantaged by the Medicare gap.