Ratepayers in rural Tasmania are being slugged with a medical levy to help prop up GP clinics, prompting fresh calls for the commonwealth to step in.
Key points:
Glamorgan-Spring Bay Mayor Robert Young said the levy was necessary to ensure the municipality’s vulnerable population had access to health care
AMA Tasmania president John Saul said rural practice especially was struggling for funding
He said an urgent review into Medicare funding was required, along with long-term planning
Councils including Glamorgan-Spring Bay, the Huon Valley and the Tasman have had to step in to keep local clinics open, and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) fears more will be forced down the same route unless Medicare funding is increased.
Glamorgan-Spring Bay Mayor Robert Young said the levy was necessary to ensure the municipality’s vulnerable population — where the median age is 56 — has access to health care.
Mr Young said about 60 per cent of the adults in his municipality were either retired or on some sort of government benefit.
“The levy is $90 payable every year by every ratepayer and it’s used to subsidize general practice and to encourage general practitioners to come to the east coast,” he said.
