G.P.s may charge $l2 a child

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 1

G.P.s may charge $l2 a child

Parliamentary reporter The Government has approved a $l2 maximum fee for children’s visits to the doctor. The amount represents a 50 cent increase over what had been proposed. The Minister of Health, Dr Bassett, announced the decision yesterday. He said it had been endorsed by the Cabinet on Monday and would become effective from February 1. It would mean that doctors choosing to join the Government’s scheme could charge $2.50 on top of the $9.50 general medical services benefit for children given in the Budget, he said.

“Current estimates suggest that 75 per cent of all general practitioners in New Zealand are now charging $l2 or less for a child consultation and so I see this as a very reasonable offer,” he said. Dr Bassett said the gap between what the State paid and the maximum G.P.s could charge above that should never be allowed, again to reach a size where parents felt they could not afford to take their children to the doctor.,

The proposal will be discussed by the Medical Association’s executive committee when it meets in the first week of December.