Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | Hansard source

Our government's long-term national health plan is delivering for all Victorians. We've guaranteed the long-term future of Medicare and the PBS. Bulk-billing rates have increased, and this means Australians are able to access high-quality care without impacting the family budget. We've listed 1,500 new drugs, including life-changing drugs for lung cancer and leukaemia. In relation to private health insurance, we've delivered the most significant reforms in the past decade and the lowest change to premiums in the past 17 years.

Labor's newest attack on private health insurance has been described by fund CEO Mark Fitzgibbon as a thought bubble that doesn't make sense. Even the AMA has warned that it could lead to greater out-of-pocket costs for patients. We shouldn't be surprised, I guess, that this is the response to Labor Party policy—that it doesn't make economic sense. Just ask the pensioners and self-funded retirees of Australia.