David Beard: Seeing an exercise physiologist is an unnecessarily expensive exercise

Why would a government want to discourage people from exercising?

We know that exercise is essential in the fight against the chronic health epidemic that is costing lives and will bankrupt governments if not reversed. So politicians would certainly want to remove all obstacles to make us active and healthier.

Apparently not, because Canberra continues to make visiting an exercise physiologist unnecessarily expensive.

There are 500 exercise physiologists in WA and 10,000 in Australia.

I am one of them.

Through our professional organisation, Exercise and Sports Science Australia, I represent over 500 allied health professionals in WA (there are 10,000 in Australia) who have spent three to six years gaining a university qualification to help people with chronic health conditions, mental health issues or problems to help. recovering from injuries and operations.

Exercise physiology is a relatively young profession. It wasn’t until 2005 that the federal government recognized the value of our profession and included it in the Medicare system.

This meant that GPs could refer their patients and Medicare would subsidize the costs, as with other allied health professions. This was a significant milestone and in the twenty years since, the positive impact on Australian health has seen the profession grow rapidly.

When exercise physiologists entered the Medicare system, they expected to be treated the same as other allied health professions in terms of tax regulations.

Unfortunately, tax law has not kept pace with Medicare recognition and exercise physiology continues to apply GST in most situations.

In 1998, the White Paper on Tax Reform: No New Tax, a New Tax System outlined the government’s rationale for making most medical and hospital services GST-free: “Applying taxes to healthcare would undermine the private healthcare sector, with its greater dependence of direct reimbursement, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage compared to the public health system.”

The white paper also stated: “Medical services will be GST-free if they receive a Medicare benefit or are commonly used healthcare services listed by the government.”

Because exercise physiology was not part of the Medicare system when GST started in 1999, it was not included in the schedule of healthcare services with GST-free status.

However, as of 2005, it meets all the criteria to be a GST-exempt healthcare service. Our patients expected exercise physiology to automatically gain GST-exempt status, making our services more affordable and accessible to Australians dealing with a wide range of illnesses.

Every politician we contacted agrees that this is an anomaly that needs to be addressed to make access to our services more affordable and reduce the burden on the public health system.

They understand that exercise physiology should have the same GST-free status as 21 other allied health services. They quickly understand that exercise physiology helps keep the healthcare system sustainable by keeping people out of acute care.

In order to change the GST law, all state treasurers must agree, and the federal treasurer must act.

In 2021, all state treasurers supported a proposal from the Treasury Department to adopt a principles-based approach when deciding which professions should be exempt from sales tax. All it took was for the federal treasurer to put it on the agenda of the Council of Federal Financial Relations so it could be formally approved.

Unfortunately, Jim Chalmers doesn’t seem interested and recent communications with his office indicate he just doesn’t think it’s important.

Since it is the states that receive the GST money, it is difficult to understand why Treasurer Chalmers and the Albanian government are blocking this simple proposal to make healthcare more affordable for thousands of Australians who need professional help to manage their physical and mental conditions to go. .

The frustration that all state treasurers agree to change and the federal government fails to act is unconscionable. I see firsthand how our current healthcare system struggles under the weight of an aging population and a chronic disease epidemic. By all accounts, exercise is one of the most powerful tools for helping people, especially older adults, maintain their health.

Professionally prescribed exercise for older Australians keeps them independent for longer, reducing demand for aged care services, which we know cannot keep up with demand. Independent research has shown that for every dollar invested in the services of exercise physiologists, the government saves $6.

Exercise is also an important determinant of immune system function. If we are warned that a new virus is lurking, Australians should certainly be supported to maximize their immune systems as much as possible.

I call on Treasurer Chalmers to take action in this area during this parliamentary term, to make healthcare affordable and keep our public health system sustainable.

David Beard is WA president of Exercise and Sports Science Australia and works as an exercise physiologist at HFRC in Nedlands