Those who have no shame may still steal our tax-money for their medical services.

If you want a service and you can afford paying for it, then it is a matter of honour to pay for it yourself. There is no need to wait for legislation: I already refuse to give doctors my Medicare number and if I do (rarely) need their services, then I pay them myself in cash - the lot, not just a meagre $7.

If there are enough consumers like me, then we can turn the tables and demand that we only see such doctors who agree never to accept money from the government, then we can insist that doctors will serve us instead of serving them, our enemies. This way we can also prevent the government from gathering information about our private health issues.

<Those who have no shame may still steal our tax-money for their medical services.

<.This way we can also prevent the government from gathering information about our private <health issues.
<Posted by Yuyutsu, Tuesday, 26 August 2014 11:31:25 PM

Firstly the exact same people who steal from the government will also steal from you and your insurer. Health Insurance fraud in the United states is estimated to be around $100 billion dollars.

Secondly, governments or other institutions will collect data about you regardless, other private institutions may on sell that data, without your knowledge or consent.

Dear Wolly,

It's not shameful to be the victims of theft, it's only shameful to steal yourself or be an accomplice to theft, which is what one does if they accept money from the government.

It is true that data from clinics can find its way to wrong hands, but the chances of that happening are smaller when I don't divulge my Medicare number and pay in cash instead - then the doctor/clinic has no legitimate reason to pass this information to others, including government. Some baddies still could, but chances are smaller.

Hasbeen, you've touched upon a major problem in our health care system. The fragmentization. It's an ongoing gripe of GP's that they're not automatically kept in the loop. I don't altogether understand why your GP didn't receive info, or requested it.

One of the reasons is that patients don't give this information, who their GP is, when they are in hospital. And it is astonishing how many people do not have one primary GP. Or even practice. And with that lab reports and X-ray reports that are easily retrievable by all health care providers dealing with the patient. Unfortunately the money to be made from this by private enterprise from the way things are does not encourage change. I know. I see double testing all the time. All paid for by the taxpayers to private companies, because, you know, private enterprise is So Efficient and ensures Competition (sarcastic tone).

In my mind, part of good preventative health care and ongoing monitoring is to educate people how important it is to have a particular GP and get ALL information to be copied/sent to that GP. It will save us millions in dollars and have better outcomes for most patients with chronic or major issues.

Bruce, re the honeypot of money. Having been married for some 12 years to a medico who during our marriage got his specialist qualification I can say that that is really not the driving motivator. The income is woeful for the responsibility and hours worked until a specialist qualification is obtained. After 6 years med school, then a minimum of 2 years residency, then another 5 years as a registrar. The yearly salary is on par with a scientist working in a lab after 4 years study. My ex didn't get to earn any real money until he was 36. If money was the motivator you're an idiot doing medicine. Become an electrician or do a 2 week course and become a financial advisor and work for CBA instead.

Yvonne you had better suggest to those medicos that they do plumbing.

In my experience very few GPs have enough math to handle a TAFE electricians course.