The Federal Government's cut to the Medicare rebate for short consultations looks likely to be blocked in the Senate.

From Monday, the rebate for appointments lasting less than 10 minutes will be cut from $37.05 to $16.95.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said in many cases doctors would have to pass the cost onto patients instead.

The Opposition and key independent senators have confirmed they will try to disallow the $20 rebate cut when Parliament resumes next month.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the cut would be damaging for patients and the health system.

"Our position is unequivocal, it's in black and white," he said.

"We will oppose Tony Abbott absolutely changing the rebate system for our GPs, making it a lot harder and through this sneaky backdoor method.

"We will say to Tony Abbott 'you are not going to damage the Medicare system if we've got anything to do with it'."

With Labor joining the Greens to support a disallowance motion, only another four votes are needed from the crossbench.

Health Minister Sussan Ley has accused Labor of a "sneaky backflip" for confirming they will move to disallow the rebate cut.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-14/medicare-rebate-cut-labor-key-independents-oppose-move/6016232

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has launched a last ditch bid to stop the Federal Government cutting the Medicare rebate for short GP visits.

AMA president Brian Owler has written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, urging him to personally intervene and halt the regulation before it starts next Monday.

Doctors' groups have been furiously campaigning against the Government's pre-Christmas move tocut the rebate paid to doctors by $20 for consultations less than 10 minutes.

In a sternly worded letter, Associate Professor Owler warned Mr Abbott practices would not be able to absorb the cuts and costs would be passed on to patients.

"The level of anger and disbelief within the general practitioner community ... is unprecedented," the letter said.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-15/ama-urges-pm-to-prevent-rebate-cut-for-short-gp-visits/6017928

The Federal Government has dumped plans to cut the rebate for short GP visits by $20, amid a fierce political backlash and stiff opposition from doctors.

The rebate for GP consultations less than 10 minutes was due to be cut from next Monday.

However, the move was set to be struck down by the Senate.

Today new Health Minister Sussan Ley announced the changes would not go ahead and had been "taken off the table".

"I have become aware of significant concerns and unintended consequences of changes to Medicare rebates scheduled to begin on Monday," she told reporters in Melbourne.

"I am deeply concerned by the misinformation that is causing confusion for patients and confusion for doctors.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-15/medicare-government-shelves-propsosed-rebate-cut-changes/6018990

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Yep, the government misinformation was trying to make us swallow pigshit for chocolate... It would have hurt badly in Queensland and in New South Wales incoming elections... But don't relax your sphincter, you cannot trust Abbott and his army of grinding organ monkeys. They will try to swindle you somewhere else.

Thank you Alan Moir, Cartoonist for the SMH... I guess few people would understand your exploitation of the French lingo...

In Today's cartoon, Moir uses a subtle way to tell us that Tony Abbott is a moron... "Je suis Charlie" we all should know what this mean by now. A term of solidarity with something, like the Hebdo... But in the cartoon, Tony Abbott, aka Popeye, holds a sign: "Je suis un charlie"... If the memory of my two years in Paris serves me well, this is a nice play on French slang. "To be a charlie" is to be an idiot, a simpleton, an imbecile, etc...

Mr Abbott was in Perth to announce the federal funding for WA's third medical school, which was an election promise by the Barnett Government in 2013.

The Prime Minister said WA needed more locally trained doctors.

"Around the country, only 26 per cent of doctors are overseas trained. Here in Western Australia, 38 per cent of doctors are overseas trained so plainly Western Australia needs more local doctors," he said.

Yesterday, the head of the WA branch of the AMA said a new medical school in Midland "would be one of the worst decisions made in WA's health sector".

Dr Michael Gannon said there were already too many medical graduates without adequate hands-on experience.

"Right now we have medical students where there's 10 or 12 of them sitting around a teaching ward with a patient; it's common for medical students to graduate without having delivered a baby," he said.

"They're getting less and less experienced. Into this environment we now have a decision, which on the face of it, looks like we'll have another 60 to 80 medical students who just won't have jobs."

The school will be the only undergraduate entry program in the state and is expected to open in 2017 with 60 students, increasing to 120 by 2022.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-17/tony-abbott-announces-federal-support-for-third-wa-medical-scho/6475914

See toon at top...