Gympie residents seeking help for mental health issues arising from the flooding in February of last year are being directly impacted by the GP tax.
The state introduced tax, which has seen a large number of GPs cease bulk-billing, could result in people who are struggling to cope being unable to access the help they need.
A local counsellor said some of the issues arising from the flooding can include depression, grief, anxiety and PTSD and most seriously, suicidal thoughts as residents try to come to terms with the natural disaster’s impacts on top of other stressers and pressures including the adverse psychological effects from the global pandemic, the housing crises and the cost of living crisis among others.
Free counselling services are being stretched to the limit trying to deal with the workload, but some psychologists, who offer their services for free through bulk-billing are actually seeing a downturn in referrals, a situation that doesn’t fit with the current mental health climate.
One Gympie psychologist, who cannot be named, said he offers his services free through the Medicare Bulk-Billing service, but the way the system is set up, clients must be referred to him through GPs.
However, as there are virtually no bulk-billing GPs in Gympie, patients needing a mental health assessment for a referral, would need to pay upwards of $80 (around half of that is refunded through Medicare, but the whole bill needs to be paid up-front) to attend their GP for the necessary referral.
With the current cost of living crisis, escalating power, mortgage, rents and food costs, many people are simply unable to afford to get the referral, to the detriment of their mental health.
AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton said she found it concerning this barrier to seeking treatment for health issues exists here in Gympie and elsewhere.
“As a GP, it’s very concerning that people are finding healthcare hard to afford,” Dr Boulton said.
“This is a result of decades of neglect for Medicare from both sides of politics.
“Patient rebates to see GPs no longer go anywhere near the cost of providing that care.
“GPs have been subsidising their patients’ care for years but can no longer afford to bulk bill and keep their doors open.
“We know that we are seeing a backlog of cancer and other illness diagnoses since COVID, and GPs are seeing more patients with mental health and wellbeing concerns.
“All Queenslanders deserve the best healthcare, no matter where they live, and we need all levels of government to work together to find solutions to our workforce shortages and decades of funding neglect.
“This situation will only get worse if the state government goes ahead with its proposed new tax on patients by imposing payroll tax on their GP visits,” she said.
