OMG! It's not until July 2015!

I can't believe I missed this. I've been getting more and more worried about what's going to happen July 1st as this is when I thought the new Medicare co-payments were due to start. Everyone was going bananas about July 1st. Of course in my head I just automatically thought July 1st this year. It was only when I looked to see what would happen if it was due to start this year and the budget wasn't passed.

From July 1, 2015, you will have to pay a $7 “patient contribution” fee each time you visit your GP. 

You’ll also get slapped with that charge when you visit out-of-hospital pathology and imaging services, such as getting an X-Ray or an MRI. 

Concession card patients and kids under 16 years will only have to pay the contribution for their first 10 visits a year. 

Doctors have discretion to choose who pays the fee, but there is a catch. 

If GPs choose not to charge a patient, they won’t receive their $6.20 bulk billing consultation payment from the government. more

Whew. I feel much better now. The senate has plenty of time to rip the budget to shreds :)

But on the other hand, how many other worried people in Australia are there who don't realise this? Not even my GP knew it was next year when I asked him about it the other week. How much anxiety and panic has been wrought on the disabled by this gov? 

As an ill person I can tell you it's not appreciated at all. We have enough shit to deal with on our own without having our very survival threatened by a gov completely out of touch that doesn't care anyway.

And yes, this is about our survival. Making the ill go from an extremely difficult financial situation to an impossible one doesn't bode well for our survival does it.