Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] In my 14 years in parliament I have talked about many issues, but one of the issues I've regularly raised is the importance of affordable health care in this country, and, unfortunately, over the years—in the last eight years, under this Liberal coalition government—we've seen that access really be eroded away. This has been further impacted, for people in my electorate, by the most recent Medicare changes that came in on 1 July, cutting back the rebate that doctors get for so many procedures. That is having, now, a real impact on constituents in my electorate. The government rushed these changes through without proper consultation and really without the ability for doctors and patients to get their heads around them.

So we're now seeing the consequences, and I've been contacted by many constituents who have been affected. One family contacted me—one father of a 25-year-old son who had a serious back injury. His surgeon had advised him that a discectomy was needed to correct the injury and reduce the risk of permanent, lifelong, spinal-cord injury. The family were rightly shocked when the surgeon told them that the out-of-pocket costs would be $4,700. The father said that they had no choice but to try and find the money for their son for his out-of-pocket costs because the surgeon had said it could not be delayed as that could result in permanent spinal-cord injury. The family were further shocked to find out that if this injury and surgery had happened before 1 July this year then the out-of-pocket costs would have been between $500 and $1,000. Like many families, they just don't have a spare $4,700 sitting around to pay for this urgent health care. I was also contacted by Paul from Woodcroft. He has also been impacted. He also contacted my office about seeing his surgeon for significant back injury. Paul had back surgery in the past and his out-of-pocket costs had been for the anaesthetic, which it only cost $500 to $1,000. When Paul saw his surgeon after 1 July, he was told he would be out of pocket by $6,000 to $8,000 for this essential operation.

Health care should not break the bank in this country. Getting essential surgery and getting essential health care are imperative. I urge the government to revisit this and look at this carefully.