Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) families across Australia are paying the price for the Government's broken promises on Medicare, with out of pocket general practitioner (GP) costs now almost $50 on average;

(2) the former Government left office with bulk billing rates at almost 90 per cent and lower GP out of pocket costs;

(3) the Prime Minister has broken his promise that Australians would only need their Medicare card, not their credit card, with costs continuing to rise and bulk billing continuing to plummet in 32 electoral divisions;

(4) only 13 per cent of metropolitan clinics have signed up to the Government's bulk billing program, with local GP practices struggling under the Government's rising cost of doing business crisis, including skyrocketing energy bills and rent; and

(5) the Government is using Medicare as a political football while ignoring the real pressures facing patients and GPs, leaving families in Australia saying it has never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor.

Families across Australia are paying the price for the Albanese Labor government's broken promises on Medicare. Labor's new bulk-billing policy is already unravelling. Figures released by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing reveal that just 13 per cent of metropolitan GP clinics have signed up to Labor's new bulk-billing program. That means the vast majority of Australian will still face out-of-pocket costs when visiting their local doctor, costs which health department officials admit now average almost $50 per visit and are expected to continue to rise. When the Prime Minister stood before Australians and promised that all you'd need to see your doctor was your Medicare card, he gave a commitment of affordability and access. The reality has proven very different. Under Labor, more and more Australians are finding that they also need their credit card because GP costs are at record highs.

Since the coalition left office, Labor's mismanagement of Medicare has seen bulk-billing collapse across the country, including in my electorate within the Redlands, where it has fallen from 84.7 per cent under the coalition to just 71 per cent today. Only 1,051 of Australia's 6,940 GP practices have joined Labor's new incentive scheme. Why? Because, like many small businesses, local clinics are struggling under Labor's cost-of-doing-business crisis, with sky-rocketing energy, higher rents and insufficient rebates that simply don't cover the real cost of providing quality care. One GP clinic in Cleveland, within my electorate, recently emailed its patients to tell them exactly why they could not afford to join Labor's new plan. Their email reads:

While we support initiatives that aim to improve access to healthcare, the new program does not provide the level of funding required to cover the true cost of providing high-quality, comprehensive GP medical care. The Medicare rebates, even with the new incentives, continue to fall well short of the cost of delivering the time, expertise, equipment, and staff support involved in your care.

Signing up, they told patients, would mean shorter appointments, rushed consultations and compromised care. So, instead, they've chosen to remain with private billing to protect the quality and time their patients deserve.

The Queensland president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Nick Yim, said in October:

We all know across the country expenses are increasing. That includes mortgages, electricity, staff wages, insurances. And obviously, when we see these rebates, if they're not keeping in touch with the cost of living expenses, it just means that we cannot bulk bill everyone.

  …   …   …

we also know that our population is getting older, diseases are increasing, becoming more complex, and we do want to incentivise those longer consultations for those increased complexity as well. We want to incentivise taking the time, seeing the patients and for those long consultations.

It is clear that Labor's cost-of-living crisis is largely to blame for the inability of many GPs to sign up to the bulk-billing scheme. The bulk-billing scheme does not give GPs the ability to take the longer consultations they need to understand increasingly complex health issues. This is encouraging shortcuts and a preference for quantity over quality when it comes to receiving health care.

When you or your child gets sick, you shouldn't have to check your bank balance before seeing a doctor. But that's exactly what more and more families in my electorate and right across Australia are having to do. I've heard from a single mother in Wellington Point forced to choose between petrol and a check-up. A retiree in Victoria Point recently contacted me, outlining that she's delaying an appointment because she simply can't afford it. And a young family from Russell Island who I met recently told me they're now forced to travel deep into Logan, quite a distance from Russell Island, just to find a bulk-billing clinic. These are the real stories of real Australians being failed by this government and its promises to strengthen Medicare. Unfortunately, it's only become harder and more expensive to see a doctor.

Australians deserve a government that delivers solutions, not spin. The Prime Minister must stop using Medicare as a political slogan and start addressing the real pressures facing patients and GPs. They deserve a health system that rewards doctors for time and care. It's time for Labor to listen to the families, clinics and communities crying out for support. Australians deserve more than just broken promises and political slogans. They deserve affordable and accessible health care. That's what my motion is calling for, and I commend it to the House.

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