ABUSES TO BE REMOVED FROM HEALTH SERVICE BENEFITS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23218, 1 April 1950, Page 6

ABUSES TO BE REMOVED FROM HEALTH SERVICE BENEFITS

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, March 31. Steps to end shortcomings and abuses in the operation of medical and pharmaceutical health benefits will be put into effect immediately. The Minister of Health, Mr. J. T. Watts, announced today that he had given close study to the situation and that, from tomorrow, the Government would‘give effect to certain recommendations of the Medical Services Committee, sometimes known as the Cleary Committee, set up in 1947.

Disciplinary committees under the Medical Practitioners Act would be set up immediately, said the Minister. These would assist the Department of Health in administering the health benefits. Also medical practitioners would be required to decide whether they wished to operate on the schedule system of recovering payments under which they themselves claim from the social security fund on behalf of patients or from a refund system under which the practitioner charges the patient who then may claim reimbursement from the fund. No Mixture of Systems “In future practitioners will be able to practice either system but not a mixture of both systems,” said Mr., Watts, who added that medical practitioners would be entitled to recover from the social security fund under either of these systems a fee “not exceeding 7/6” instead of the present flat rate of 7/6.

This, he said, will make it possible in future to regulate fees for minor and routine services.

“I have discussed with the B.M.A. the procedure to be adopted in future and negotiations will now take place with the Health Department on details,” he said.

The Minister said the B.M.A. had assured him of full co-operation with the Government in restoring the quality of the medical service in New Zealand, in correcting abuses and in retaining the medical profession in the highest level of public regard. The Minister said lie himself was satisfied that steps being taken with the full co-operation of the medical profession would stop much of the present abuse of social security. It was only fair to say that, in the past, the leaders of the medical profession had warned the Government of the day of the pitfalls but the Government had ignored these warnings. Restoration of Right to Sue The Minister confirmed the immediate restoration to doctors of the right to sue for the amount of their fees over and above the portion that could be claimed from the social security fund and said, in accordance with the Cleary report that there would be adequate safeguards to protect patients against excessive fees.

“I also expressed to the B,M.A. representatives my concern at the fact there were not suflicent powers to deal with flagrant cases of abuse,” said the Minister. “I, therefore, propose to issue amending regulations under which I have power, upon the recommendation of either the Medical Council or disciplinary committees, of excluding any medical practitioner, at least temporarily, from'the right of recovery from .the social security fund for medical services rendered by him.” The Minister said he undertook to convey to the Government the B.M.A.’s recommendation that there should be some charge for prescriptions but, in the meantime, he hoped to reduce the cost of pharmaceutical benefits by improved methods of administration which were already practically worked out and by the assistance of the disciplinary committees to be set up.