Extension of Australia's Medicare safety net will ease the financial burden on pregnant women

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, said yesterday that the Government’s decision to extend the Medicare safety net to cover out-of-hospital private obstetrics services would ease the financial burden on pregnant women and their families.

Dr Glasson said the introduction of the Medicare safety net earlier this year covered women accessing IVF services but did not extend to gap payments for pregnancy.

“Women who are patients of private obstetricians have been paying high gap payments without access to Medicare or private health insurance benefits,” Dr Glasson said.

“By creating a new Medicare item number to cover a proportion of the gap payments for the planning and management of a pregnancy the Government has taken some of the worry out of pregnancy for many women.

“The AMA welcomes this initiative, which follows close consultation between the Government and the medical profession.

“The real winners are the patients who will now receive greater coverage under the Medicare safety net.

“The AMA will work with the Government to ensure the measure is implemented with the full co-operation of the profession in a way that is of most benefit to patients,” Dr Glasson said.