Vulnerable Australians missing out on healthcare as insufficient Medicare rebate drives GP shortage

Fee-for-service funding model cannot keep up with cost of complex primary care needs, community organisations say

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Vulnerable Australians are missing out on adequate healthcare because the Medicare rebate is failing to keep up with the costs of providing services, leading to a critical GP shortage, community health organisations say.

Not-for-profit community health organisation Cohealth has not been able to operate its street doctor service in Sydney's CBD - which provides a GP to people sleeping rough - for more than nine months, because it cannot find a doctor to work there.