Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme) Bill 2023. The purpose of this bill is to implement changes arising from recommendations of the independent review of Medicare integrity and compliance undertaken by Dr Pradeep Philip, commissioned in November last year. The bill:

Amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to: remove the requirement for the Australian Medical Association to agree to the appointment of the Director of the Professional Services Review (PSR); amend consultation requirements for appointing other statutory office holders of the PSR to enable consultation with relevant peak bodies directly; establish the statutory office of Associate Director of the PSR; remove the requirement for the Chief Executive Medicare to consult with stakeholder groups prior to issuing a notice to produce documents …

The Professional Services Review, or PSR, is an independent statutory agency responsible for maintaining the integrity of Australia's Medicare program through investigating and sanctioning inappropriate practice by health professionals. The coalition has a strong and long-held commitment to protecting the integrity and financial viability of Medicare.

Our Medicare system underpins our world-class health system and, importantly, it is there for all Australians. We are so in fortunate in Australia to have a health system that is accessible and available to every Australian, no matter where you live or how old you are. Protecting the viability of Medicare is key to this. Medicare, including the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, continues to provide Australians with access to free hospital care and affordable health care and medicines. When we were in government, investment in the MBS and the PBS grew significantly under our leadership. That meant we were able to subsidise and list more than 2,900 new and amended drugs to allow more Australians more affordable access to potentially life-saving and life-changing medicines and treatments. The coalition have been stewards in ensuring the viability of Medicare and supporting access to affordable health care for all Australians, having introduced this legislation in the last parliament. In fact, we oversaw record investment in this area and we were committed to continuing that record through our commitment to investing $133 billion, over four years, in Medicare.

The coalition will always be committed to supporting the integrity and financial viability of Medicare to ensure all Australians have access to the critical support provided by Australia's healthcare system into the future. In fact, this bill continues the important reforms started by the former coalition government to strengthen the PSR's review mechanisms, particularly for claims relating to the MBS. We were glad to see the government pass the Health Legislation Amendment (Medicare Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2022 in December. This was a coalition bill that we proudly introduced in the 46th Parliament to strengthen the compliance powers of the PSR and add a degree of flexibility to the PSR's ability to address any inappropriate practice. We understand that it is vital that there continues to be rigorous and effective health practitioner compliance to protect the financial integrity of Medicare.

We also have a strong track record of supporting our hardworking healthcare practitioners and peak bodies to correctly claim health payments, with a clear focus on education, engagement and consultation. Australians rightly expect their tax dollars to be used appropriately and effectively, particularly when they are being spent on our health system, which is facing increasing pressures. We need to support practitioners who are doing the right thing by the taxpayer and their patients but also to identify the healthcare practitioners who are not acting in good faith. So we acknowledge that this bill builds on the coalition's work to strength the PSR and protect the viability of Medicare through additional reforms; however, we do have concerns with the amount of consultation undertaken prior to the introduction of this bill, particularly in regard to the review on which these reforms are based. Dr Philip stated in his report:

Given the timeframes set for this Review, my formal consultation with stakeholders has been necessarily limited, supplemented by informal discussions with participants, and I have based most of my work on desktop analysis.

Considering the limited time frames set for the review resulted in Dr Philip having restricted time to undertake thorough consultation and being forced to run a largely desktop exercise, the opposition believe it is critical to ensure we gather more information from stakeholders on the impacts of these reforms. This bill contains some significant changes to longstanding arrangements, and it is important that we explore those changes thoroughly through proper consultation. Time and time again we are concerned by the government's refusal to allow for appropriate levels of consultation on their policies and to follow proper process.

The coalition will not stand in the way of good policy, but we need more information on this bill so that we can be certain it will uphold our record of protecting the integrity and viability of Medicare and our world-class healthcare system. The opposition will support the passage of this legislation through the House but we will take the time to explore these reforms properly in the Senate.

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