There is only so much governments can do though, and when you...

There is only so much governments can do though, and when you don't index the cost of some healthcare items for 10-20+ years, you then have to resort to more drastic attempts to cut costs such as this bulk-billing incentive item change, and introducing it without any industry warning or consultation. Unfortunately for the government I think much of the growth in healthcare costs are being driven by increased utilisation. But not because the medical industry is over-servicing patients by ordering more tests etc., but because the population is ageing and by necessity has a greater health burden. This is a structural change government needs to adapt to, and no amount of tweaking of Medicare rules is going to stop this. For their own self-preservation there is only so much cuts they can make to one sector before the next election. So any changes are likely to have only a short-term impact, that may potentially be viewed differently with a change in government.