The Australian system is still uncapped. There are the usual
accusations of greedy doctors etc. In reality the fees offered by the
government system have not kept pace with inflation over the last ten
years. We are still permitted to charge whatever cash fees the market
will bear, but most GPs do not exercise this option.
> In Ontario the government system is budgeted to pay $3.8 billion for doctors
> (specialists and GPs). Since the payment of doctors is predominantly fee
> for service, this means that the government can only make things work by
> forcing caps on physician incomes (i.e. only paying a percentage of billings
> above a certain net $ figure) and clawbacks (i.e. paying a reduced
> percentage of each claim to keep within budget.
>
> I would be interested to know whether anything similar exists elsewhere,
> particularly in countries where fee for service is the predominant mechanism
> within a government system. Australia for instance.
______________________________________________
Stephen Crawshaw
Townsville Qld
Australia
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