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General practitioner fees: the effect of an additional 10% goods and services tax
L J Toop1, S J Chetwynd, C H Botting
1Department of Community Health, Christchurch School of Medicine.
Insights
A study on general practitioner fees found that a price increase had minimal impact on when patients sought medical care. Private medical insurance, however, may influence consultation timing decisions.
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Primary Care Medicine
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- General practitioner (GP) fees represent a direct cost to patients seeking primary care.
- Understanding patient response to fee changes is crucial for healthcare policy and access.
- Previous research on fee impacts has yielded varied results, necessitating further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the effect of a 10% increase in general practitioner fees on the timing of paediatric consultations.
- To assess the influence of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduction on healthcare-seeking behavior.
Main Methods:
- Data collected by 56 general practitioners from 4113 consecutive paediatric consultations over a four-week period.
- Observational study design capturing consultation timing and patient demographics.
- Analysis focused on changes in consultation patterns coinciding with a fee increase.
Main Results:
- The 10% increase in GP fees showed little to no effect on the number of consultations, illness patterns, or timing.
- No significant change in patient attendance or the timing of seeking medical attention was observed directly due to the fee rise.
- Private medical insurance emerged as a potential factor influencing patients' decisions on when to seek consultations.
Conclusions:
- Fee increases for general practitioner services may not significantly alter the timing of paediatric consultations.
- The role of private medical insurance in moderating the impact of out-of-pocket costs on healthcare access warrants further investigation.
- Healthcare policy regarding patient cost-sharing needs to consider the influence of insurance coverage on service utilization.
Abstract:
The effects of an increase in general practitioner fees on the timing of decisions to seek certain consultations were studied at the time of the introduction of a 10% goods and services tax (GST) on 1 October 1986. Fifty-six general practitioners collected information on 4113 consecutive paediatric consultations over a four week study period. The price rise itself appeared to have little or no effect either on numbers attending, pattern of illness or on the timing of consultations. However, private medical insurance may have influenced decisions on when to seek medical attention.