Australian Pathology has initiated a campaign urging the public to voice support for keeping pathology services bulk billed, as concerns grow over the possibility of future co-payments. The sector, representing private pathology companies in Australia, highlights the increasing demand for pathology services due to the aging population and rising chronic illnesses, emphasizing that more government funding is needed to sustain the current bulk billing system.
The advocacy for government funding stems from longstanding stagnant Medicare rebates for pathology providers, with recent developments indicating a shift towards indexing certain labor-intensive services to align with wage and price growth. Conversely, the exclusion of some tests from this indexing has been met with resistance from pathology companies, suggesting that technological advancements have not fully addressed the resource-intensive nature of many pathology services. The tension between government considerations of cost-saving measures through automation and the sector's perspective on the need for increased rebates has sparked a debate within the industry.