A rant really. How does AusReddit feel about this? I just booked an appointment online to see my GP. I get an SMS from the clinic to tell me they’ll be “pre-authorising” the appointment fee of $180.00 at the time of booking. My appointment isn’t for another week and a half, so I won’t have access to $180 in that time.
Something really isn’t sitting right with me on this and I think we’re taking this a bit far. It feels like a weird barrier to healthcare and a very weird choice on the GP’s part. All I could think of was, imagine if I was either A) a single parent needing that for my grocery shop for the week, B) an elderly person needing to pay other bills until my next payment came in, C) a uni student or D) insert other vulnerable population group that needs medical assistance but needs to wait to book the appointment for their next pay check.
Im feeling like it’s one of those things where “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” and something the government needs to step in. I’m a tax payer, my tax goes towards healthcare, and if clinics are worried about “No Shows”, the government can handle that. But don’t freeze $100+ weeks before my appointment?!
Edit: I just want to be REALLY clear here as some people are misreading and applying their own knee-jerk lense to the post. We are *not* talking about being charged for a no-show fee. That is a very different conversation. I’m going to be more explicit: we’re talking about withholding the fee, weeks before an appointment, in order to secure the appointment. In other words, to make an appointment, I need to have $180.00 frozen on my account - money I don’t have access too - until my appointment comes. *that* is the topic of conversation, not “no show fees”.