published letters

Published in The Age on Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The proposal that ‘we need a system of individual contributions’ for health care continues to be promulgated even by those who recognise that a $5 GP copayment is harsh on the most needy and probably an administrative disaster(Editorial 4/1/14). This proposal however is still about user pays. We don’t have user pays to get a police or fire service response, or to use most roads. We already have individual contributions for all these services. They are called taxes. Everyone pays according to their capacity to pay. Those who are healthy and or rich contribute and receive only the assurance that when they struggle with illness, they will also be helped by their own and others contributions. That was the idea behind Medicare – a single efficient public insurer.

The second myth being promulgated is that individual contributions are necessary for patients to value the service. My bulk billed patients still bring me their homemade marmalade, smoked eel, and wine. They value the service I provide. Some may not, but some who pay also sometimes don’t appreciate the service.

Tim Woodruff

Vice president