Exclusive: Doctors would be able to charge patients a new fee for bandages, band aids and other dressings under a controversial proposal labelled a Medicare co-payment by stealth. The government committee in charge of reforming Medicare has proposed general practitioners should be able to bulk bill patients for a consultation but then charge them an additional fee for wound care consumables . Currently these dressings are provided free of charge by most doctors. Solicitor and Medicare administration expert Margaret Faux has warned the new fees amount to a Medicare co-payment cleverly disguised as fees for dressings. The constitution prevents the government controlling these types of medical service charges and, if allowed, doctors could start billing patients for disposable gloves, specimen jars and even disinfectants, she warns.