A government website meant to allow Aussies to compare cost of medical procedures charged by different doctors has been lashed in Senate estimates, after it was revealed hardly any doctors has signed up to advertise their fees on the voluntary site.
News.com.au reports that Senator David Pocock revealed the Medical Costs Finder website, which has cost taxpayers $24 million to implement (so far), has only been used by 20 doctors nationwide to display fees. Senator Pocock pointed out this is more than $1 million per doctor.
But rather than take any blame, federal health minister Mark Butler accused the former government of delivering a white elephant that looked good on paper, but had no practical use.
“The former government did nothing to make the Medical Costs Finder a useful tool for consumers,” Mr Butler said in a statement on Friday.
“It’s a service that has been left gathering dust and doesn’t provide transparency of out-of-pocket costs. I’ve asked my department for advice on how we can improve the current Medical Costs Finder and transparency.”
It may have been introduced by the former government, but it’s now the responsibility of the current one to fix it. How do you think it could be fixed? Should it be compulsory for doctors to list their prices?
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