Doctors are warning of a GP co-payment by stealth if the federal government doesn't end a freeze on the Medicare rebate.
Australian Medical Association president Brian Owler says there was no indication in Tuesday's budget the freeze would end before 2018.
Modelling has shown the indexation freeze could force doctors to pass-on out-of-pocket expenses to patients, he said.
That could result in a patient co-payment of as much as $8, more than the $5 proposed by the government before it dumped its plan.
"We will see less bulk billing and there is the possibility of seeing a co-payment by stealth as has been alluded to by some," Dr Owler told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
The budget had also removed $150 million from general practice through changes to child health checks which should have been put on hold while the government conducted a review of Medicare benefits, he said.
As well there was no indication that "savage" cuts to the public hospital system, proposed in the 2014 budget, would be restored.
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