Dr Aajuli Shukla, General Practitioner

The last few weeks has seen the publication of claims in the mainstream media, primarily relying on a thesis by Dr Margaret Faux, that doctors are ‘rorting’ Medicare to the tune of 8 billion dollars. Strangely, this number is not backed by any substantial quantitative data and appears to be based in part, on figures secondarily reported in Faux’s thesis and partly on her “years of experience” running a Medicare billing business. Neither her thesis nor her anecdotal estimates provide any substantial calculations or primary data to support her claim.

The recent media storm triggered by Margaret Faux and journalists from various outlets has worsened both the workforce and medicare crisis rather than progressed us toward quicker or better solution, our survey shows.