published letters

Published in The Age on Sunday, August 3, 2008

There is a shortage of vacant public hospital beds in Victoria and we should welcome the Australian Medical Association’s (AMA) call for more public hospital beds (letters 2/8). The AMA also call for a continuation of the $3 billion Private Health Insurance rebate which finances the growth of the private hospital industry. That industry can only grow if specialists are available. Such specialists can only come from public hospitals and State Government figures show that specialists are moving from the public to the private system. In the interests of all patients, the AMA should be calling for the abolition of taxpayer support for private health insurance, but is faced with the dilemma of the competing interests of patients and AMA members. For the doctors’ union the choice is simple and sad. Members’ interests are paramount. Patients miss out.

Dr Tim Woodruff
President
Doctors Reform Society