The watchdog responsible for policing Medicare investigates just 0.07 per cent of health professionals each year, is chronically understaffed and underfunded, and is led by bureaucrats with strong links to the powerful Australian Medical Association (AMA), a joint investigation has found.
The AMA – a union that represents about a third of the country's doctors – also holds an extraordinary veto over whom the federal government wants to run the regulator, known as the Professional Services Review (PSR).
