Rebellion among country G.P.s predicted

Press, 16 February 1984, Page 24

Rebellion among country G.P.s predicted

PA Auckland An Accident Compensation Corporation move to stop paying for doctors’ toll calls may cause a rebellion among- country general practitioners, the Medical Association predicts.

The association’s secretary, Mr Roger Caudwell, said: “The corporation’s logic defies us.” Relations between the medical profession and the A.C.C. have already been cool over the last few months because the corporation has rejected some doctors’ claims.

The association urged doctors to switch from bulk billing the corporation for claims to billing patients and getting them individually to seek refunds. Doctors believed this would seriously inconvenience the corporation.

Mr Caudwell said the toll issue might trigger country doctors to join the association’s protest and stop bulk billing the corporation. He said that 40 or 50 doctors he knew were already no

longer bulk-billing. Mr Caudwell said the corporation stopped, paying for toll calls only over the last two or three weeks. The decision would affect mostly country G.P.s who had to make toll calls, for example, when admitting a patient to hospital in a nearby city, he said. He said the corporation told doctors they should absorb toll bills as a cost on the practice. “But when you go to a solicitor or accountant and he makes toll calls for you, you pay for them. We really cannot understand the corporation’s logic.” The general manager of the corporation, Mr Len Fahy, said that only some categories of toll calls would no longer be approved for payment. Exactly which ones would be discussed at a meeting next week between the corporation and association. He did not know how much the change would save the corporation.