Doctors are warning the Turnbull government will be "burnt to toast" if an impasse over the Medicare rebate freeze is not broken.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has indicated he is close to reaching an agreement with the medical profession over the freeze, which caused a stir during last year's federal election.
"If they don't unravel the freeze and they don't produce a positive story in health they will get burnt to toast at the next election," Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon told Sky News on Monday.
The rebate freeze - introduced by the former Labor government and reinstated under the coalition - caps the amount doctors get back for a standard 20-minute consultation at $37.05.
The freeze would continue until at least 2020 under existing government policy, but the AMA has long warned GPs cannot continue absorbing the increasing costs of providing medical care.
"They need to get this monkey off their back, they need to move on from the freeze so that they've got a positive story to tell," Dr Gannon said.
"At the very least, they need to restore indexation so that they recognise general practitioners and other specialists are running small businesses, the costs of which increase year-on-year."
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