Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Bulk-billing is at the very heart of Medicare. Labor created Medicare, and Labor stands by the principle that when you go to the doctor, you should only need your Medicare card, not your credit card. And that is why, after seeing bulk-billing rates in freefall under the former government, with Peter Dutton as health minister, we have made a record investment in Medicare. Labor has increased the bulk-billing rebates for individuals and the bulk-billing rebates for practices. We have made a historic investment in bulk-billing, with the target of seeing nine out of 10 doctor's visits bulk-billed by 2030.

In the ACT, which, historically, has had a lower rate of bulk-billing than every state and territory, we have put in place additional incentives. I was really pleased to join my ACT colleagues, Senator Katy Gallagher and the members for Bean and Canberra, Dave Smith and Alicia Payne, in Tuggeranong last week for the announcement of the opening of a new clinic, Next Practice Deakin, putting in place a purely bulk-billing practice. This is part of three new bulk-billing clinics which the federal government is funding with $10.5 million in bulk-billing GP attraction initiatives.

In my electorate, there will be Macquarie General Practice, the first fully bulk-billing clinic in a very long time in Gungahlin, and all of those bulk-billing clinics will be open by 30 June this year. When we came to office, there were only 10 fully bulk-billing clinics in the ACT. Now there are 22, and that number is going upwards. That ensures that more Canberrans are able to see a doctor without worrying about their bank balance. They're able to see a doctor, show their Medicare card and that's all it takes, and that's on top of what we've done to make medicines cheaper for Canberrans and for all Australians.

When we came to office, the general patient co-payment had reached $42.50 a script. We have reduced it to $25, the lowest level in two decades. We've introduced 60-day prescriptions for eligible medicines, ensuring that patients can receive two month's supply on a single co-payment. We lowered the safety net threshold so more households qualify for more discounts on medicines. In the ACT, this has seen more than five million cheaper PBS scripts filled, with estimated patient savings of $46 million. That's $46 million back into the Canberra community, making life easier for households and strengthening the ACT economy.

Only Labor is committed to Medicare, only Labor is committed to bulk-billing and only Labor is delivering cheaper medicines.