One state’s Health Minister says a $7 co-payment for appointments will end up costing the Commonwealth.

The New South Wales Health Minister says states will force more people into emergency rooms and therefore more GPs into hospitals, which means the Federal Government will have to pick up the costs.

State Health Ministers are among those representing their tier of government in opposition to a range of measures in last week’s federal budget announcement.

As they have been forced to find a way to deal with reduced funding and increased demands, several state Health Ministers say putting GPs in hospitals is a way to force the Federal Government to maintain its share.

New South Wales Health Minister Jillian Skinner has described the plan in an interview with ABC Radio.

“I'm going to be looking at options which invites a GP, for example, into the hospital to treat that patient. Now they're funded through Medicare by the Commonwealth, so that's a cost shift, yes, to the Commonwealth, and that's exactly who should be paying for it. That's their obligation,” she said.

“What the Commonwealth is saying is; ‘We are going to impose a payment on people going to the GP’, if they get it through the Senate, of $7.

“They are then saying; ‘Well it's up to you states, you are now going to manage the health system. You can seek a co-payment for all those patients that are now coming to you'.

“That's an admission that they're sending GP patients to the emergency department,” Ms Skinner said.

Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Professor Stephen Leeder, told reporters that a $7 co-payment can only reduce outcomes.

“Doctors who look after these people have shown, for example, that patients with diabetes, the ones who do best are those who make regular systematic use of their general practitioner,” Leeder said.

“One of the barriers to seeking that kind of care is a financial one. That's the rationale behind bulk billing in poorer areas so that people do not have the financial barrier to seeking care. Every way you look at it, this is a disaster.”