media releases

“The shocking evidence displayed on 4 Corners last night suggesting some specialists allegedly rorting the system is an indictment of the Federal Government”, said Dr Tim Woodruff, president, Doctors Reform Society. “Whilst busy giving tax cuts to millionaires and tax evading corporations, the Federal Government underfunds public hospitals and primary, dental, and mental health care in its continuing ideological plan to increase private health care. It forces the desperate to take out private health insurance or wait for years for a public hospital bed, and even to take out small loans to see a specialist in the community instead of waiting a year for a public hospital appointment. It then wastes $11 billion a year propping up this private health industry knowing that out of pocket costs are hurting patients across the country.”

“It is time for the Government to decide whether it is in charge of the health of all Australians or whether it wishes to leave health care to the profit driven private health industry, the private hospitals industry, the Australian Medical Association, and the greed and sense of entitlement of high charging doctors”, said Dr Woodruff.

“We call on the Government to fund public health properly, to increase the funding of public hospitals to meet the unmet demand, to fund full time specialist staff in public hospitals, to improve funding for primary, dental, and mental health. It’s time also to address and further expose the alleged rorts, remembering always that the crippling co-payments and other out of pocket costs occur because the Government is Americanising and privatising our health system so that health care is seen as a commodity to be bought and sold, with little regard for the patients and their families struggling with the bills.”

Dr Tim Woodruff                                            Dr Con Costa

president                                                       vice president

Ph 0401042619                                               Ph 0418400309