It has become clear that a desperate Albanese Labor Government is attempting to reheat their disgraced Mediscare campaign in an attempt to distract from their failures.
Today, instead of outlining a plan to address Labor’s cost-of-living crisis, Treasurer Jim Chalmers lied to Australian households by claiming that the Coalition is “coming after Medicare, medicines…”
In doing so, he is treating Australians like mugs and proving that Labor is only focused on playing politics, not on supporting struggling families.
Let’s set the record straight.
The Coalition always has, and always will, invest in Medicare.
In Government, the Coalition increased funding for Medicare year-on-year, from $18.6 billion under Labor in 2012–13 to more than $30 billion in 2021-22.
This led to record high bulk billing rates and a stronger Medicare system for all Australians. On average, Medicare covered 90% of GP fees under the former Coalition Government.
Under Labor, GP bulk billing has collapsed, falling 11% since the last election.
The GP bulk billing rate under Mark Butler is 77.3%. In comparison, under Peter Dutton as Health Minister, it was 84%.
As a result of Labor’s primary care crisis, Australians are covering 45% more of the cost to see a GP from their own pockets under the Albanese Government.
Equally, the Coalition has a strong record on investing in the PBS, unlike Labor.
The Coalition has also been clear that we support the policy of 60 day dispensing for PBS medicines. However, we did not believe it was fair or reasonable to expect Australia’s community pharmacies to pay for it. Labor belatedly recognised this themselves through a new community pharmacy agreement.
The former Coalition Government made more than 2,900 new or amended listings of medicines on the PBS, at an overall investment of around $16.5 billion.
In comparison, when Labor was last in government, they had to stop listing new medicines on the PBS because they couldn’t manage money. Now, history appears to be repeating itself with Labor’s arbitrary cap on listing new PBS medicines.
Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston said that it has literally never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor than under the Albanese Government.
“Australian families are having to make the difficult decision to avoid going to the doctor or delay refilling their script because they just cannot afford it under Labor,” Senator Ruston said.
“Instead of taking action to tackle the rising unaffordability of essential healthcare, the Albanese Government is lying to Australians. It’s disgraceful.
“This is a government that has cut Medicare mental health support in half, leaving vulnerable Australians without affordable access to the support they need.
“Australians can feel the truth of Labor’s health record in their hip pockets every time they go to pay the bill at their doctor’s reception desk.”
The Coalition has already announced some key health policies that we will take to the next election, including doubling Medicare-subsidised mental health support, investing $400 million to grow the pipeline of home-trained GPs and supporting women’s health by investing in specialist cancer nurses for Ovarian Cancer - the deadliest cancer affecting women. We will announce further investments in the lead up to the election to further support Australians' access to timely and affordable healthcare.
ENDS
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