Post #4410847

I had my appointment with my HRT doc today and we gotta talk about something really fucked up that's happened in the Aus medical system I need to do some more research on what exactly has happened but the bulk billing and Medicare rules have changed. For me? It doesn't really mean anything. I got a text and had to click an extra link to confirm I was being treated by X place and it was all sorted. Because I'm an adult with my own goddamn Medicare card But right now there's a young trans kid that's heading to their first appointment with a gender care specialist. They haven't told their parents. We can all guess why. When you're a kid you don't have your own Medicare card. You're added to your parents card. Thanks to this incredibly stupid change this kid's parents will be notified by text message/email about the bulk billing request through the Medicare system because now bulk billing needs some kind of extra approval from the card holder This kid now has a choice: pay an arm and a leg to access critical healthcare safely or put themselves at all kinds of personal risk just to be able to afford an appointment. With the informed consent model they will need between 3 and 5 appointments before even accessing HRT. So multiply this really shitty situation by 3 to 5 One of the most vulnerable members of our society is now carrying a burden that they shouldn't have even had to think about. This should never have been an issue. This post shouldn't exist. They've literally been given the "your money or your life" ultimatum by the exact systems that are supposed to protect them A couple of weeks ago the gov was coming under fire because some absolute idiots organised a test for the nation wide emergency phone network and didn't for a second think about how that could affect folks impacted by domestic violence who have hidden phones for their own safety. And here we are again. Here we are with another vulnerable group totally let down by stupid, short sighted, ass backwards changes made by stupid, short sighted, privileged fucks who should be protecting them... Those fucks didn't even think of this kid. Not one of them. I'm not ok. None of this is fucking ok