10 NEWS
10 NEWS
13 FEBRUARY 2026 ausdoc. com. au
Aborted take-off for frequent flyers
ANALYSIS Antony Scholefield THE Federal Government has formally killed off its long-delayed plan to pay thousands of dollars to the GPs caring for hospital‘ frequent flyers’.
The Frequent Hospital Users Incentive was unveiled in 2023 and was meant to support around 14,000 patients making 10 or more hospital presentations a year.
While details were never officially confirmed, the program was expected to involve $ 2000 payments to the GPs of frequent flyer patients, at
‘ I regret that we have had to spend as much time and money.’ least in year one, plus a $ 500 annual outcomes-based bonus.
It was pitched as the cornerstone of the MyMedicare patient enrolment scheme: a means of funding consistent high-level GP care outside of the public system for very complex patients, such as those with addictions or complex psychosocial needs.
And if successful, the model may have been extended to aged care or complex mental health patients.
The scheme was originally scheduled to begin in pilot form in
August 2024. However, that date passed without a word from health officials. By late 2025, with the government putting billions into higher bulk-billing incentives, GP groups began to suspect the program had been left to die. This was finally confirmed in December’ s budget update.
Under“ efficiencies”, it noted that the government was about to save $ 176 million over four years, and another $ 47 million a year beyond that,“ by not proceeding with the Frequent Hospital Users [ Incentive ] program, with funding to be reinvested in new or expanded health services”. It offered no explanation. The AMA had previously warned that the government was struggling to decide eligibility criteria, given that the patients repeatedly going to hospital ranged from those with very complex psychiatric illness to those near the end of life.
“ As doctors, we all have a list of a couple of patients who we think fit the bill, but it is hard to put that on paper in terms of data that are recorded,” AMA president Dr Danielle McMullen said in 2024.
Suspicions also endured that the government’ s focus on urgent care clinics and bulk-billing had pushed frequent flyers too far down the priority list.
Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler essentially told
Australian Doctor in an interview last year that this was the case.
“ I would love to have been in a position after the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce to put all of our energy, time and money into reforming the way the MBS works and to move more quickly to bundled funding models, particularly for patients with complex chronic disease,” he said.
“ I regret that we have had to spend as much time and money on dealing with what was really a burning platform around affordability through these big bulk-billing investments.”
The demise of the plan again raises questions about the actual benefits of any patient enrolling with a GP practice under the MyMedicare initiative.
The main benefits, as it stands, are access to Medicare-subsidised long telephone consults and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive. Patients registered with MyMedicare can only access Medicare’ s chronic disease care plan rebates from their registered practice.
Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler.
‘ Dismayed’: ACRRM frozen out of GP training expansion
Ciara Seccombe ACRRM says it was excluded from talks on the Australian General Practice Training program ahead of last month’ s unexpected announcement of 306 extra RACGP training posts.
The decision to increase the number of
Dr Rod Martin. posts to 2124— some 1772 with the RACGP and 352 with ACRRM— reflects resurgent interest in the specialty among junior doctors, the Federal Government says.
However, ACRRM president Dr Rod Martin said:“ We were a bit dismayed. That is my polite word for it.
“ We knew nothing about any of the negotiations for it.
“ We had to work out whether this was a reannouncement or rebadging. It took days just to get information from the Health Department.”
He said he welcomed all investment in GP training but pointed out that ACRRM’ s Australian General Practice Training( AGPT) posts were also oversubscribed for 2026.
“ We are between 10 % and 60 % oversubscribed, depending on the state,” he said.
“ We have got exactly the same argument: plenty of unmet and unfunded demand.
“ We do not want to be turning people away from rural areas to do their training.”
He said junior doctors would often consider ACRRM training but then apply for an
RACGP post because they felt it was easier to secure a position, given the numbers.
“ There is a weight of numbers, and it is fine because it is difficult for a government or ministry to treat all of its children equally,” he said.
“ But from a contractual perspective, when we are both vying for AGPT funds,
‘ We knew nothing about any of the negotiations for it.’
we need to make sure it is a transparent process.”
He said:“ We will be happy to sit down with the government and have robust discussions about how we can use the funds we have not spent from other programs to more effectively meet the demand we increasingly have.
“ An additional 200 places would probably be what we take to them.”
Butler keen to list semaglutide
Staff writer HEALTH Minister Mark Butler says the Federal Government is keen to list semaglutide on the PBS despite the expected massive cost to taxpayers.
In December, the PBAC said Novo Nordisk’ s Wegovy should be added to the PBS for patients with both cardiovascular disease and obesity, with the caveat that the company would need to reduce its price first.
“ Yes, we will list it; that is our commitment,” Mr Butler said.
“ There is a further process, though, after the recommendation is received, and that is a process to get the right price.
“ This is going to be a very big bill for taxpayers, so it is incumbent on us as the government to negotiate a good price from the perspective of taxpayers.”
He said more than 400,000 Australians were paying $ 4000- $ 5000 a year for GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as semaglutide or tirzepatide, on the private market, which was“ obviously beyond the means of many Australians”.
The RACGP welcomed the PBAC recommendation but urged continued investment in primary care to prevent obesity with early intervention.