Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As far as the Medicare freeze on the indexation is concerned, we are open to reviewing that indexation pause, which was begun by members opposite when they were in government. The Minister for Health is having productive discussions with the AMA and the colleges as to how that can be achieved. But, clearly, we are managing a very tight budgetary position. We need to ensure that we get as much value from our health dollar—and by 'value' I mean in terms of better outcomes for patients—as we can. In terms of Tasmania, I would say to the honourable member that across Tasmania there have been an extra 1.03 million more GP services billed in the last year compared to 2012-13. In the honourable member's electorate, there have been an extra 76,000 GP bulk-billed services in the last 12 months compared to 2012-13. So, more Tasmanians are seeing a GP, without having to pay for it. Those are the facts.

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