Agreement reached over cheaper GP visits

An agreement has been reached to enable lower doctors' fees for 45 to 64-year-olds.

GPs had been concerned by conditions placed on them by district Health Boards over their ability to set fees.

Health Minister Pete Hodgson said today that issue had been resolved.

Mr Hodgson said the argument between Primary Health Organisations, DHBs and doctors' groups over the issue had taken "quite a while" but in the end the ability of DHBs to review doctors' fees remained.

He said: "We have importantly now got an ability to ensure that fee increases from doctors are reasonable -- this is not fee setting, it is not fee capping, it is just ensuring that we have an ability to ensure that if anyone were ever to be recalcitrant in their fee setting that there's going to be able to be a response to that."

The agreement means subsidies of $110 million to cut the cost of a doctor's visit for 45 to 64-year-olds -- about 700,000 people -- by $27 from July, can be put into place.

The latest round is part of the Government's $2.2 billion primary health care changes and follows a previous roll-out for those under 25 and over 65 who were enrolled with primary health organisations.

In a statement, New Zealand Medical Association chairman Ross Boswell said he was pleased there was an agreement.

"Patients will benefit by receiving the subsidy, and general practices will be able to set their own fees and thus ensure their viability," Dr Boswell said.

- NZPA