Patients will be able to get instant Medicare rebates by swiping their cards in the EFTPOS machine at their doctor's office, under plans to be considered by federal cabinet.
Within two years, existing Medicare cards will be replaced with a new health and welfare smart card that will allow welfare and Medicare transactions to be done from a personal computer, News Limited newspapers report today.
People would produce the smart card, which would not be compulsory, to claim a Medicare rebate or welfare payment.
The plan, which would eliminate the need for patients to visit Medicare offices to claim health rebates, follows revelations that previous proposals for electronic rebate payments had flopped at a cost of $600 million.
The smart card proposal, pushed by Human Services Minister Joe Hockey, could be funded in this year's federal budget, News Ltd reported.
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