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AMA Says Taxi Backflip Not Good Enough
AMA Victoria has criticised the State Government’s sloppy, on the run policy development in the wake of yesterday’s announcements regarding changes to the Multi-Purpose Taxi Scheme.
Dr Mark Yates, AMA Victoria Vice-President and Aged Care spokesperson, said the State Government back flip, despite an expanded list of groups exempt from the $550 cap, had failed to address problems in the inherently flawed new system.
“The Government handed us a lemon when they initially announced details of the scheme, now they have back peddled and rather than come fix things they have handed the disabled another sour deal” said Dr Yates.
“Yesterday’s announcement is nothing more than a band-aid solution, and a rather unsatisfactory one at that.”
“If the State Government has the courage to admit they were wrong about meddling with this policy in the first place, why only go half way when the practical solution is to revert to the previous system which well served community needs.”
“It all comes back to that old saying – if it ain’t broke, why bother fixing it in the first place?” said Dr Yates.
Dr Yates also challenged the State Government to define the parameters of an organ disorder, a category that was added to the list of exemptions yesterday.
“Perhaps Mr Bracks could tell us why Asthma is not counted as a lung disability or why epilepsy does not fall into the category of a brain disability” he said.
Although the newest set of changes intended to soften the blow to the disabled, the scheme still seems to punish those in the community that need the most care.
“Many people with disabilities, often the elderly and the frail rely on the taxi service to maintain a normal life yet they are still subject to the cap” said Dr Yates.
“The State Government must stop punishing the elderly and disabled and deal with the problem on a provider level. If the scheme is being taken advantage of, it is certainly not by the disabled people who rely on it.”
“Why limit their basic rights and freedoms when they do not even contribute to the problem of the rorting of the system in the first place?”Victorian Medical Directory
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