The Federal Government is doubling the maximum yearly payment for general practitioners (GPs) to leave their practices and check on the health and well-being of the 244,000 Australians living in residential aged care.
Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt said it will spend $42.8 million to ensure there are increased face-to-face meetings between residents and their GP, providing the detail on the plan announced in the Morrison Government’s response to the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
“This funding boost provides an additional 120,000 GP services to senior Australians living in aged care facilities,” Mr Hunt said.
“It is part of our $17.7 billion response to the Aged Care Royal Commission. We recognise the importance of improving health care for people in residential aged care and this is essential in ensuring senior Australians are treated with respect, care and dignity.”
Changes are now taking place to support the introduction of the additional payment tiers under the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) GP Aged Care Access Incentive. First payments are expected in the November 2021 quarter for services provided by GPs from 1 July.
If a GP delivers 100 services to patients in Residential Aged Care Facilities in the financial year 2021/22 they will receive a total payment of $4,500 ($2,000 for delivering 60 services + $2,500 for delivering 100 services) potentially amounting to $10,000 in 12 months.
