This is an interesting debate the cutting of costs for rebates in private health insurance. Previously women could claim 80 per cent of out-of-pocket obstetrics fees after reaching the safety-net threshold.
It is also interesting to see that low risk women are asked to attend local hospitals as opposed to mainstream high risk hospitals where the intervention rate is much higher. This is where we would benefit from having more birth centers, or midwives working out of hospitals within the community.
The question is will this push women to seek midwifery led care in low risk cases, as opposed to paying more to see a private obstetrician and risk the cascade of intervention..... and higher costs.
The recent newspaper article Anger over cut to obstetrics rebate discusses these issues, stating that in the current boom will we run out of beds in our hospitals.
What the article fails to mention is that midwifery led care in low risk women is a more affordable option and saves the tax payer millions of dollars.....
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