Almost half of all Australians have put off the medical treatment they need due to the cost, exclusive research for the ABC’s Q+A has found.
The national polling by YouGov also reveals three-quarters of Australians have struggled to find a bulk-billing doctor, despite billions of dollars of incentives to GPs from the Commonwealth.
The findings expose the inequity in the country’s patchwork public health system and echo recent alarm from medical and social welfare groups that sick Australians are not seeking the help they need.
And they suggest Australians would back a significant expansion of subsidised care, with overwhelming support for dental coverage, long seen as the biggest hole in the Medicare net.
Federal health minister Mark Butler, who was shown the new polling ahead of his appearance on Q+A tonight, admitted: “We know there is more to do.”
Asked if they had put off any medical or dental treatment for themselves or their family due to cost-of-living concerns, 46 per cent of the 1514 respondents to the weighted survey said they had.
The number was highest among Australians aged 25-34 (54 per cent). Six in 10 who were renting said they had put off accessing medical care.
Both the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) report a doubling of people delaying or skipping seeing a doctor in 12 months. Data from the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) released last week puts the increase closer to 2.5 times higher.
“Financial pressures have put healthcare out of reach for too many people,” NCOSS chief executive Cara Varian said.
Bulk-billing harder to access
Mr Butler said the government’s $3.5 billion investment in bulk-billing – tripling incentives for doctors – had delivered five million additional no-fee GP visits since last November.
But 76 per cent of those polled last week said finding bulk-billed medical services had become harder over the last few years. Just 6 per cent thought it had become easier.
The numbers were similar across all demographic and political support groups.
The RACGP noted that the government had only incentivised appointments for children, pensioners and concession-card holders, which is why many Australians had not seen the benefits.
“When we came to government, bulk-billing was in its most parlous state in the 40-year history of Medicare,” Mr Butler told Q+A, blaming the previous government’s “six-year freeze” on Medicare rebates.
“I’ve tried to be honest with Australians.”
A recent RACGP survey found eight in 10 clinic owners were worried about their financial viability because Medicare rebates were not keeping pace with inflation. Three in 10 said they wanted to stop practising in the next five years.
But there was little sympathy from patients polled by YouGov – an emphatic 84 per cent said they would support banning providers charging more than the scheduled fee for services covered by Medicare.
The Opposition said a workforce strategy was needed and vowed to spend $400 million to incentivise junior doctors to enter general practice if it won government.
“We understand that reforms are not worth the paper they are written on unless we have the workforce to deliver them,” shadow health minister Anne Ruston said.
Eight in 10 want dental in Medicare
Eight in 10 Australians said access to free and equal healthcare was a more important value than being able to choose between public and for-profit providers (17 per cent), the Q+A/YouGov poll found.
And just as many – 82 per cent – would support a hike in the Medicare levy to expand coverage to dental treatment.
The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data from 2022-23 showed 30 per cent of Australians delayed or avoided necessary dental work in the previous 12 months, while 87,000 hospitalisations for dental conditions could have been avoided with earlier treatment.
Multiple members of the government backbench have publicly raised the need for dental coverage, which is part of the Greens’ policy platform. But the health minister ruled it out for now.
“I know there is ambition for Medicare in the medium to long term to include dental, but right now, we’re focused on strengthening Medicare and general practice,” Mr Butler said.
Value of insurance questioned
The number of Australians with some form of health insurance has risen to about 55 per cent of the population, though the industry acknowledges cost-of-living pressure has seen a decline in those with top-level cover.
The Q+A/YouGov poll showed more than six in 10 respondents thought health insurance was too expensive and not delivering value for money.
Out-of-pocket expenses per treatment are rising for patients, while insurance groups say they are facing a “viability crisis” because of inflation-fuelled cost hikes.
A majority of Australians (63 per cent) would rather governments end subsidies for insurance and invest the savings directly into hospitals. Though just half (51 per cent) supported abolishing the Medicare levy, which penalises taxpayers without insurance.
Six in 10 feel confident they could afford an unexpected week of treatment in hospital, whether in the public system or with insurance.
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