Abbott's $5 GP "rebate cut" is a lie; it's a tax - heading for senate failure

It's not fuckin rocket science. If the gov will cut the Medicare rebate by $5, then who's going to pay? Are doctors supposed to retain bulk billing by taking a pay cut? Why should they? We rely on them as a community for the basic of needs, our health. GP's are on the front line in this. Why should they be punished for serving the community in such a way? The only logical conclusion is that GP's will have no choice but to introduce a $5 co-payment.

Oh but it's OK as pensioners and vulnerable will be exempt. It's not OK Tone. I know myself what it's like to be earning a good wage as the main income earner in a family, only to see it eaten up in high rents (let alone mortgage). Do working people not get sick then? Why should they be punished for doing so? The gov should be increasing the Medicare rebate not cutting it. The Australian community does not deserve to have to bail out SSJoe's incompetence.

Why should sick people be slugged anyway? Why don't they FFS do something about huge corporations paying fuck all tax here? Oh no, lay into the sick. They just don't get it. 

This hasn't got a snowballs chance in hell of getting through the senate. And it's not the senate's fault. It's stubborn Abbott and SSJoe's insistence on hurting the sick and vulnerable. And for what? An imaginary budget crisis of their own psychosis.

And these changes are unlikely to pass the Senate. Most of them are being introduced by regulations rather than legislation bypassing the need for Senate approval, but the Senate still has the ability to disallow regulations, and just last month it showed it was prepared to use it when it was presented with watered-down financial advice regulations. It isn't over yet. more
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All of the changes but one will be introduced through the back door by regulation rather than by legislation, which requires the approval of Parliament. But regulations can be disallowed by the Parliament after they are introduced. Just last month the Senate disallowed the regulations that purported to water down consumer protection under financial advice law.

There's every reason to think its prepared to do it again if it doesn't like co-payments, meaning that while the $3.5 billion saving will be in the budget update, most of it will never be banked. more 
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By opting for a $5 cut to the Medicare rebate Mr Abbott has essentially left it up to the nation's doctors to impose the fee of their own accord. And they will impose it. more