Yay.... can't wait to see the result :rolleyes::wall:
What are peoples feeling about this?
Printable View
Yay.... can't wait to see the result :rolleyes::wall:
What are peoples feeling about this?
Hoping they don't cut their 5 hours funding for 4 yo kinder. That would be bad for all children. Considering the funding that some countries give pre school education (40 hours in some countries, 20 even in NZ).
This is the first time that I'm actually going to be glued to my seat waiting for the outcome of the budget. There are so many "possibles" that will have a directly adverse affect on my family. Mr Hockey said this morning that if people are looking at what they are getting out of the budget as an individual then they would be disappointed. He wants us to look at the bigger picture.
Well, Mr Hockey, sorry to say but my family is already on a tight budget and I'm not looking forward to tightening it anymore.
As a parent of a child with a disability, I really don't want them to change the rollout of the NDIS. That is my main concern. Therapy is pricey, and when you are talking 2-3 therapy sessions a week, the NDIS is something we really need.
Utter dread. So vehemently opposed to the ideology that is driving this whole process. I fear good things will be dismantled in permanent ways and the nation will be poorer as a result.
For the first time I am actually really nervous what is going to happen in this budget.
:
Me too :(
Plus our family sits in a place where we will be taking hits from many different directions (uni fees, HECS/HELP, FTB, petrol, GP fees, medication & pathology & scan copayments on top of our already huger than normal medical expenses) and that's without looking at the bigger systemic changes that will make life harder for our children when they are setting out in life.
We will be affected by the universal things such as the GP payment and petrol prices etc. We have never been entitled to FTB or any other payments except the Child Care Rebate so no changes for us. I was very worried they would means test the CCR and we would lose that. Thank goodness they didn't!
does anyone know of a simple, plain english version of what's happening? I saw part of the official budget via twitter but struggled to make sense of it. I wasn't looking forward to much of it being positive, particularly for education (and looking at getting a permanent teaching job)
ETA - does it still have to go through the senate? and take effect from July 1? or am I totally forgetting something - TV's been stuck on ABC4kids for too long and my brain's going (if it's not that it's a sports channel for DH or cooking channels for the boys after ABC4kids finishes for the day)
Google - "Infographic: Federal Budget at a glance - The Conversation" (is high level but at least is a starting point)
thanks wysiwyg that helps as a starter. Now to find the time to actually read the paper at school tomorrow (being trying to do that for the past 2 weeks and succeeding once in that time - too much to do)
Hmmmm... I kind of understand the idea of reducing debt but sheesh people still have to live. I'm not impressed with the gp co payment. I don't think they realise how much $7 actually means to some people!
Agree on that, particularly if you get a bad run like we did last year with ds2 about 5 visits in 7 weeks for ear infections:
It seems everyone but the pollies are sharing a burden of the debt.
I'm confused, are there still GPs who bulk bill? I've had to pay $70 every time I go to the GP for a long time - I wish it was only $7! Unless you hold a HCC or other concession card you pay $70 and claim back your medicare rebate - so it still ends up costing $35 or more.:
To me it didn't matter what they did, the rational behind it is not sound - so was never going to be happy.
I think the changes regarding the young unemployed are particularly concerning - and where do they get this age of 30 from? What is that based on?
Family Tax Benefit - apart from the reduction in the threshold for part B to 100,000 and limiting it to families with children under 6 - are there any other changes to FTB apart from the fact it will be frozen for 2 years?
I am reading alot about the movement of health and education back to the states - I really am a bit clueless on what this means, the whole state vs federal situation confuses me anyway (apart from having to learn who looks after what on the citizenship test - I have very little knowledge in these areas).
Also I think alot of the media focus on broken promises - misses the point a bit. Really we should want a government to do what is right for the time irrelevant of what they have promised in the past (I don't think this government has done the right thing).
Yes, this. But apparently there are loads of bulk billing doctors around the place, and some of them are located in relatively wealthy areas too. The vast majority of consultations (numerically) are bulk billed. Often doctors charge everyone but bulk bill people with concession cards & for children. But people with concession cards (ie, elderly and those with disabilities & chronic health conditions and disabilities) are massive users of the medical system, so these people will be hit the hardest.:
There was a quote in there by Joe Hockey about people needing to "take responsibility" for their health. As someone who has been through the cancer wringer, I wish I knew what kind of ****ing responsibility I needed to take to prevent all of the doctors visits involved in that.
Without having read any of the budget document, it doesn't come across as having much of an evidence base.:
Gp I go to bulk bills kids and hcc holders. Everyone else is $68.50, they do your Medicare refund on the spot though, so no need to head into an office to claim it.
I find the script fees a bit wrong. $5 extra for everyone, but hcc only get 80c tacked onto their medicines.
They're the only 2 issues I understand. The rest are to over my head to grasp
Our gp doesnt bulk bill, so cost 70. Except does bulk children. So does that mean i now have to pay 77? Or just 7? And what does.it mean with rebate? Im confused (not thaat its hard to do)
Yes that is what I mean, I wish I was seeing more stuff on FB feeds, media etc. about the lack of evidence behind it rather than the broken promise angle.:
Because if it was based on evidence and good policy and not short term focused it wouldn't bother me what promises had been broken. I don't know the broken promise angle seems to buy into the 'buying votes' which doesn't encourage looking at the whole picture.
I have always been mega confused by bulk billing, where we go it doesn't bulk bill in general, so we pay and get the half back, or more if hit safety net, but occasionally we wouldn't have to pay for a kids appointment and I never really worked it out. Currently I can live with that as don't have to go that often so can afford it. Lots of friends go to other doctors who bulk bill, even for things like routine vaccinations which you can get done free at the council and round here are offered at a massive variety of times and locations. I always wondered why bulk billing wasn't done based on some measure - seems a bit wrong that now the people who really need it will have to pay instead of tightening up on who can bulk bill - but maybe it isn't that easy?
This was my greatest fear too! Paying $480 per fortnight is so much more managable than $960. We don't (and never have) received FTB payments.:
The Uni HELP fees do not affect existing students and DS1 will be finished his degree in 2017 in any case.
Yes, the petrol and medical will be a pain, but all in all, our family seems to have gotten off lightly.
(Off topic - related to bulk billing)
People who can't afford gp's use hospitals. That's why bulk billing super clinics were started to take the burden off public hospitals. I can guarantee you if people can't afford $70 they will go to the hospital. And if people can't afford $7 they will too.
Our statewide locam service bulk bills too. I stopped going to our local non bulk billing GP when the head doctor kept upping the fees to cover the "long time patients" he bulk billed. And it sickened me a little that he had a new luxury car every few months. And he expected everyone to charge full fee for script renewals. I do believe some centres exploit the system. As do other medical services like private testing centres. If there was more fee regulation and less of a gap I wouldn't have a problem.
If they had done that would have really made no sense, I don't think was ever on the cards. The current situation currently makes working more than 3 days a week if you are both middle income earners (say 70 000) not financially beneficial. If they removed the CCR or means tested it, it would be a massive disincentive to working and that wouldn't be in line with other policies, which seem to want to increase the workforce. The fact the CCR is not increasing in line with childcare costs is enough of a problem.:
I haven't seen anything about CCB so assume that it is staying the same but frozen?
They built one of those super clinics in our area - except they couldn't get any doctors to staff it. So now there's a dentist & a physio etc there and no bulk billing and no late night service. And the emergency room at the hospital is just as full as it always has been. My point: there are structural problems that are not going to be fixed by copayments.:
On bulk billing again - I've been astounded at the amount of people I've seen saying similar to ausgirl, that they have to pay when they see a doctor anyway. Every doctor I've been to in my entire life, aside from some private specialists, has bulk billed. Maybe it's a location thing? I've only lived in the suburbs... To me, paying anything is strange.
Swaying back to the topic - perhaps for non-bulk-billed places, the $7 is on top of the usual fee?
I'm fully in the burbs, have *never* been routinely bulk billed. Ever. And we have lived in 5 different states. So I'm astounded to hear that it's even possible to pay nothing ever.
I saw somewhere people who pay to see a GP already will be charged an extra $5 on top of their normal fees.
So $75 instead of $70.....
I've never had to pay to see a Dr either..
Aren't they also going to charge you to use the hospitals (as opposed to your gp or super clinic) for non essential visits? Or is that just a rumour I've heard making the rounds?!
I think the $7 thing is, fee + $7 on top, and for bulk billed places it's just $7
I read somewhere (SMH?) that people who go to emergency when they are sick and could/should have gone to a GP (ie not an emergency) will be billed the $7 as well.
I have always paid since arriving in Australia - is about $35 out of pocket for normal hours appointments more like $55 for out of hours. In England was free, but could wait ages to get an appointment, so I just thought it was ok seeing as here I could pay but get to see a doctor when I needed one (My budgeting software tells me that the past year that equates to $375 on GP visits for the family - so just over a dollar a day). I would rather pay like this when I can afford it knowing that it would be free if I couldn't.
This is why have thought that some of the initiatives to reduce doctors visits are a good idea compared to paying - e.g. I can get a referral for my endocrinologist for $20 - instead of having to waste mine and GP appointment just to get the note - I can do it online for $20 which saves me $15 and medicare $35. Getting a doctors note from a pharmacist for $20 is also a good idea in my book (only having to have two days off work to require a sick note is ridiculous in my opinion - is a waste of time and money - it should be a 5 working days - 2 days encourages people to go to the doctors when a doctor is not required). If you miss a swimming lesson where DD goes, you need to get a doctors note to get a replacement class, I always thought that was ridiculous, paying $35 to get a note for a replacement class worth $14, now I understand that people can go bulk bill - it makes more sense (although I think is a silly system - encouraging people to waste doctors time to get a note saying yes the child has a cold etc so can miss swimming class).
My employer allows us five days of "undocumented" personal or carers leave all year. After that it is deemed unauthorised leave and becomes leave without pay. And can impact job security. I have no choice but to go to the doctor if myself or dd are sick as I need medical/carers certificates. I hate wasting everyone's time when I have flu or gastro, for which I know there is no treatment but rest and fluids (not to mention the risk of infecting others!) but I have no choice! It's not a case of two or more consecutive days require certificates. It's pretty much every absence. Five absences without evidence sounds like a bit of leeway, but when i have a small child and they are ill with gastro, and i KNOW I sit very near someone who is quite immunocompromised, I adhere to doctors quarantine suggestions, so it takes very little for is to have a need to see a doctor for a certificate.
I am reluctant to believe that pharmacists issuing evidence certificates won't be abided. I know doctors certificates are already abused, but I think pharmacists will be further abused....
No comment on the rest of the budget stuff given I have a migraine and haven't read. Just wanted to comments in the certificate situation
I'm fully in the burbs too, and there is no clinic around here that bulk bills. I would have to drive a long way and even then, they only bulk bill children.:
We have lots around my area, they're always hard to get into.
I don't use them often as my normal GP most times bulk bills the kids and quiet often DH and I as well, they choose who they bulk bill.
With FTB do they automatically both cut off once youngest is 6???
Fom what I've read, just part b:
I used to live on the Mid North Coast of NSW. They now have a few specific bulk billing doctors, opened in recent years, but before that You had to ask if the doctor would bulk bill you during the consultation. They could say yes or no. I had no happen a few times :/
Since moving back to more country area's though, as long as I have my pension card I've not ever been asked to pay.
RE the budget. I'd best find a place to pitch my tent before DD3 turns 6. Losing around $150 in FTB when she's 6. Loosing my carers to get a full time job, so around $100 down again. Then cut back to newstart when she's 8. Another approx. $250. I live in government housing & even if I manage to get a full time job in that time, I'll still be looking at tent city :/
It is common out where I live (regional/rural NSW) that only patients under 16 are bulk billed. Most Dr's make you pay. I think it's only those with concession cards that get bulk billed. And again, long term patients may get bulk billed, but the majority don't.:
We're largely unaffected by many of the changes. We earn too much to get any FTB at all and we've only ever viewed the school kids bonus as just that - a bonus. We also don't have kids in care either. I'm not sure how other things will affect us. We rarely use Dr's either. The only thing that will really bite is the fuel excise. I haven't had much of a chance to actually see exactly how we will be affected though.
The GP rebate that you can claim from Medicare has been slashed by $5 and they will also slap the $7 co payment onto existing rates so pretty much those who already pay to see a dr are now $12 worse off.