Date: 11/05/2011
Author: Andrew Pesce
Source: The Australian, p 9
Synopsis:
In Issue 11 of the GP Network News, AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce states that “the AMA is very disappointed that the government has reduced rebates for patients who need to see GPs for their mental health plans. It’s a real shame that a lot of the positive initiatives in the mental health strategy are going to be paid for by making access much more expensive at the entry point. It will result in extra costs for patients, or GPs won’t be so interested in providing these services.”
Also includes a useful graph summarising the mental health initiatives over 5 years: total 1.5bn
- $201M: National partnership with the states
- $12m: establish National Mental Health Commission
- $571m: better coordinated care for severe mental illness
- $220m: improved access to primary health services and increased participation
- $492m: Prevention and early intervention for children
disabilitywatch 