HEALTH SYSTEM IN CRISIS UNDER LABOR

TONY PASIN MP

MEMBER FOR BARKER

ASSISTANT SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT

MEDIA RELEASE

HEALTH SYSTEM IN CRISIS UNDER LABOR

Bulkbilling rates have been dropping consecutively every single month since Labor came to Government with data showing a total Medicare bulkbilling rate of 77%, and 80.2% for non-referred GP appointments, in the 12 months to June this year.

Member for Barker says the bulkbilling rate is now the lowest recorded since 2013.

“Labor’s cost of living crisis sees no boundaries with the cost of seeing a GP increasing, creating an unacceptable barrier for Australians in need of critical healthcare,” said Mr Pasin.

“The Albanese Government is overseeing plummeting bulk billing rates at a time when Australians are struggling to pay the bills, let alone cough up for an unexpected GP appointment,” Mr Pasin said.

The former Coalition Government oversaw record high bulkbilling rates of 88.8% but since Labor came to Government the bulkbilling rate has fallen to the lowest levels since the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years.

Under the Albanese Labor Government, Medicare-subsidised mental health support has been slashed, less than half of their promised Urgent Care Clinics are operational, and 70 telehealth items have been cut from Medicare.

To make matters worse, reports of nearly 200 GP clinics around Australia closing in the past year is deeply concerning.

Mr Pasin said this highlights the crisis our health sector is facing, and unfortunately it is exacerbated in regional Australia.

“Minister Butler’s expansion of the Designated Priority Area criteria has been a major factor in GP clinics closing in regional Australia. There are simply not enough doctors and Labor’s policy changes have funnelled the workforce to outer suburbs of major cities,” Mr Pasin said.

“Without urgent action from the Albanese Government to address the current decline in bulkbilling and rising health costs, and access to GPs, Australians’ access to critical healthcare will be increasingly at risk,” Mr Pasin said.

Media Contact: Charlotte Edmunds 8724 7730