Senate Committee report on better access for rural, regional and remote patients
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by DPS
The Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs has released the report ‘Highway to health: better access for rural, regional and remote patients’, based on its inquiry.
The inquiry found serious inadequacies in the various schemes currently operating involving thresholds, subsidy levels complexity and inconsistencies. It felt that these schemes did not mitigate the adverse affect on health outcomes.
The main recommendation is to include patient assisted travel scheme arrangements and funding in the next Australian Health Care Agreement. It also calls for a taskforce comprised of government, consumer and practitioner representatives to develop national standards for schemes to ensure equity of access.
