Matt Gregg (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that on 1 November, bulk billing incentives were expanded to all Australians, and a new incentive payment began for practices that bulk bill every patient; and

(2) notes:

(a) that these policies will mean:

(i) nine out of ten general practitioner (GP) visits will be bulk billed by 2030; and

(ii) the current number of fully bulk billed practices will triple to around 4,800 nationally;

(b) other policies the Government has delivered to strengthen Medicare, such as:

(i) opening 90 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Australia, with 47 more on the way;

(ii) tripling the bulk billing incentive;

(iii) opening 61 free Medicare Mental Health Centres;

(iv) lowering the maximum cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme listed medicines to $25 from 1 January 2026 and freezing the concession price at $7.70 until 2030; and

(v) boosting funding for hospitals by $1.7 billion; and

(c) that while the Government is expanding access to bulk billing, by contrast, the Leader of the Opposition as the Minister for Health:

(i) never increased Medicare rebates, the only health minister in Australian history not to do so;

(ii) doubled down on the then Government's $50 billion cut to hospitals; and

(iii) continued the fight for the former Leader of the Opposition's GP tax.

Over the weekend, I met Dr Sara Razaghi, a GP at the Forest Hill Medical & Dental Centre. This is one of the practices that has become 100 per cent bulk-billed thanks to the Albanese Labor government expanding bulk-billing incentives to all Australians, the single largest investment in Medicare since Labor created it over 40 years ago. Sara told me this change means that she can focus on her patients and their needs without worrying about how many people she can feasibly bulk-bill. She could see in her patients that a gap fee wasn't sustainable for them, so she did what she could to support her patients and bulk-billed as often as she could, often at her own financial detriment. Now that she's able to bulk-bill all her patients, she can finally focus on their wellbeing and know that the Albanese government has her back.

Forest Hill isn't the only clinic in Deakin to go to 100 per cent bulk-billing since we announced our changes. I've also visited Seymour Street Medical & Dental Centre, which is now also bulk-billing every patient. Between Seymour Street and Forest Hill alone, patients in my community will be saving almost $1.4 million. That's just across two clinics. Imagine the savings we're going to see as more clinics take up the incentives and provide more bulk-billing. That's going to make a massive difference in Deakin, and I'm so proud to be part of a government that is making it easier to leave your credit card at home when you seek medical care.

Unfortunately, the Australian people had to wait for a Labor government to fix Medicare. When the now opposition leader was health minister, do you know how many Medicare rebates increases we saw? Zero. I would go on further, but I note the opposition leader is having a tough enough week, so I'll leave that aspect there.

While the Liberals froze Medicare, the Albanese government has delivered the three largest increases in its history, and we're now making the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago. We're investing $8.5 billion to deliver an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits each year nationwide, as well as hundreds of nursing scholarships and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program in Australia's history.

For the first time since Labor created Medicare, we've expanded bulk-billing incentives to all Australians, with an additional new incentive for practices that bulk-bill every single patient. That means nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030, boosting the number of fully bulk-billed practices to around 4,800 nationally, triple the current number. The Albanese government tripled the bulk-billing incentive in 2023 in what was the largest investment in bulk-billing at the time. Medicare bulk-billing incentives were available to providers if they bulk-billed children under 16 and other concession cardholders. We saw that result in about nine in 10 visits being bulk-billed for that cohort. Expanding these incentives to all Australians will be life-changing for a lot of people. We know that even those who don't happen to meet the eligibility requirements for a concession card are often doing it tough; it doesn't mean they're rich, and they will really benefit from finally having bulk-billing returned to its glory. Already, under our government we've seen almost two million additional bulk-billed visits in Victoria, and I can't wait to see even more people from my community leaving their credit card at home.

GPs want this change, and around a thousand practices have already signed up or expressed interest saying they want to go 100 per cent fully bulk-billed, and I expect that more will do so once they see all the financial advantages for themselves and their patients. Doctors like Sara at Forest Hill Medical & Dental Centre want to focus on caring for patients, not stressing about money and not talking about money with their patients. They want to focus on the healthcare needs of those who have come to see them, and this provides them with that very important opportunity.

Because of our investment, doctors can focus 100 per cent on their patients, and more patients can be 100 per cent bulk-billed. With such a large investment in the program, Medicare has had the best comeback this weekend other than Oasis. We've seen, finally, a whole lot of green and yellow signs, which has warmed my heart as I go around seeing more and more people and clinics talking about bulk-billing returning to its former glory. We want to get to a point where those who need medical care don't hesitate to go to see a doctor; they get those interventions they need when they need them, rather than letting small things become big things. We've seen too much of that over the last few years.

Clinics have copped the Medicare freeze for a long time. They wore it for as long as they could. Then COVID came along, so more and more doctors were left with no choice but to charge gap fees. This is an essential corrective action to ensure Medicare meets its promise to the Australian people: that, finally, people can go with their little green card to see the GP and get the support they need without having to worry about any debt that might result from that. This is an essential public service. It's provided by private providers, but this is an essential public service paid for with a levy that all taxpayers are paying—

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