ABC has painted itself into a corner on the $8b Medicare “rort.” They know it doesn’t stack up, but are defending it with low-grade gotchas, refusal to seek facts, illogical argument and denial of a fair hearing to an entire profession. Mutually assured reputational injury.

#fauxlowvaluecare Giving a patient who is dying radiotherapy to ease the pain from metastases from her cancer. Low value to Faux & Coatsworth. for the patient? Priceless. Low value or worth a try? What do you think?

#fauxlowvaluecare Seeing a patient with advanced dementia to keep her comfortable in an aged care facility. Low value for Faux and Coatsworth? What do you think? Who gets to decide? The clinician, the lawyer, the bureaucrat or the family?

Great contribution by Dr Jenna Price and thank you Dr Sophie Scamps MP for sharing your story. I agree, GPs are saints and I hope the sensationalist Medicare rort stories won't lead to a backlash against the very people who are bravely holding communities together. canberratimes.com.au/story/7950057/…

Well this is interesting. The real experts are weighing in now ABC News The Sydney Morning Herald

Thank you, Jenna; this is a balanced and responsible response to an enormous hand grenade lobbed at general practice earlier this week.

The onus of proving that (a) there is widespread Medicare leakage, (b) a material portion of that leakage is a result of fraud by doctors, and (c) this amounts to 30% of the total Medicare budget or $8bn/year rests with those making the assertions; not on doctors to disprove it.

Lesley Russell Wolpe abc730 Sarah Ferguson AMA President 128 doctors were found to have had errors in their Medicare claims that they had to pay back. We don’t know how many were disciplined by AHPRA. So that’s 128 out of 100000. That’s 0.1%. Not exactly a pandemic

abc730 Me. I’ve read it. Interviewed 27 people. They reckon Medicare is inappropriately used 25% of the time. On that basis, Faux decided $100 billion has been wasted in the last 45 years because she’s read “all the literature”. That’s a big claim on the basis of a very small study.

How do you get to $8bn from here? Quote: If the ABC, Nine and Dr Faux are feeling proud of themselves this week then they might want to stop and think about how much their baseless and fantastical claims affected doctors on the ground out there. medicalrepublic.com.au/how-do-you-get…

This week’s #Medicare ‘rort’ coverage appears to have had a significant impact on weary GPs already struggling with the strain of an underfunded primary care system and the COVID-19 pandemic. bit.ly/3CPsEfS

Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) President Samantha Maiden We have answered the allegations. Proper experts including the leaders of the PSR and health economists have. Problem is: it doesn’t fit with the negative click bait

abc730 The Sydney Morning Herald What about #highvaluecare where Medicare is rorting GPs? Gender pay gap in GP is about 30%. Because women doctors on average do more complex & more mental health work. The more complex the work the less we’re paid. Which is why pts get 6 minute consults. What a rort

abc730 The Sydney Morning Herald What about #highvaluecare where Medicare is rorting GPs? Medicare pays $42 for antenatal appointments with the GP regardless of consultation time. So spending half an hour explaining screening or discussing fears & risks & choices? $56 ph gross after practice costs

abc730 The Sydney Morning Herald What about #highvaluecare where Medicare is rorting GPs? Discussing a patient’s complex care with their specialist? Seeing or ringing them in hospital? $0 from Medicare. What a rort.

abc730 The Sydney Morning Herald What about #highvaluecare where Medicare is rorting GPs? Rural GPs who travel for home visits or emergencies. Rebate for travel time? $0 What a rort.

abc730 The Sydney Morning Herald What about #highvaluecare where Governments are rorting GPs? Delayed access to COVID vaccines (hospital kitchen staff vaccinated before us). Not included in NSW legislation to protect health workers from assault (pharmacist assistants included not us) What a rort.

Our CEO Paul Wappett is ready to go with the Pride in Medicine crew! Stay tuned for the fabulous float! #PrideinMedicine #SydneyWorldPride

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes history as first sitting PM to march in Mardi Gras. Photo: Nikki Short GALLERY smh.com.au/national/2023-… #MardiGras2023 #SydneyWorldPride #WorldPride2023 #Mardi_Gras_2023 #AlboPM

I haven’t been able to find Hamish Blake’s actual comments about how easy it is to be a GP (links welcome in the comments), but #GPTwitter has been in uproar this weekend. So a quick (or maybe not so quick)🧵…/1