Imagine this. Before your GP decides on your treatment in our public health system, she first needs sign off from a private insurance company. This could well be the future of Medicare - if we don't act.

The Abbott Government is implementing controversial changes to our health system that could see private insurers intervening in GPs' decisions about who gets treated and how. It's the very system that's crippled American healthcare, driving up costs and leading to poorer care for fewer people.

But the worst thing: nobody's talking about it.

With so many fronts to fight, on health, education and social security, these changes have slipped under the radar - exactly what the Abbott Government's been banking on. But key decisions are still being made about how the new system will operate. If enough of us speak up now, we can raise the alarm and put these changes under scrutiny by media, politicians and the health industry.

Under the new changes, Australia's health system will be divided into new 'Primary Health Networks', set to oversee GP-care. But the Abbott Government has made the controversial decision to give private insurers the opportunity to run them.1

These new bodies will effectively coordinate the care every patient receives from their GP - a clear conflict of interest for health funds focused on their own members, not to mention their own bottom line. These changes pave the way for US-style managed care system, and without strong equity protections could restrict access and quality of care in areas deemed 'unprofitable'.2

Profit-driven healthcare threatens the very foundation of our universal Medicare system. Indeed, health groups are calling the transition to Primary Health Networks one of the most significant challenges facing our health system, one that introduces dangerous market forces to GP care.3


We want to keep Australia's health system world-class and accessible to all.

www.getup.org.au/campaigns/medicare/end-health-austerity/is-this-the-start-of-a-healthcare-emergency?t=19pojCkR8