News Release Minister Jack Snelling

Minister for Health Minister for Mental Health & Substance Abuse Minister for the Arts Minister for Defence Industries Minister for Health Industries
Friday, 11 April, 2014

SA to knock back GP Tax at Health Ministers meeting

South Australia will seek answers from the Federal Government on its plans to introduce a GP Tax at a meeting of Health Ministers in Brisbane today. Health Minister Jack Snelling said the Government had grave concerns on the impact the proposed new fee would have on the states Emergency Departments as well as the most vulnerable members of our society. There have been many reports about how this new GP Tax would work and how much it would cost and I want answers from the Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton, Mr Snelling said. I will be asking him at todays meeting if this plan will be introduced in next months Federal Budget and what form it will take. Mr Snelling said the South Australian Government was strongly opposed to a new GP Tax being introduced. One of the key factors that drives up costs to the states health system is the people we care for who have a chronic illness that could have been diagnosed and treated earlier and avoided going to hospital altogether, he said. Charging people every time they visit a doctor is only going to make that problem worse. It will mean less people will get illnesses checked out at an earlier stage when they can be treated and prevented and further clog up our health system in the future. Mr Snelling said a GP Tax would also send more people to the states Emergency Departments instead of their Doctor, blowing out waiting times in EDs. Reports this week suggest the Federal Government would also consider allowing State Governments to charge up to $36 for people who visit our EDs, he said. South Australia does not support this and wont charge people to visit the EDs that the State Government runs. This is just a knee-jerk reaction to offset a GP Tax that should never be introduced in the first place.

www.premier.sa.gov.au

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