Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. According to the Sunday Herald Sun, patients could be forced to pay a $1,200 gap fee for a common hip surgery thanks to this government's changes to the MBS. Can the Acting Prime Minister explain why life-changing surgery will become so much more expensive for Australians in just two weeks time?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's just not true. It is simply not true. I will ask the Minister for Health to address this, but this is what Labor tried in the 2016 election. This is the stunt they pulled. They tried to say to Australians, they tried to strike fear indeed into the hearts of older Australians, that the rug was going to be pulled from under Medicare, from under vulnerable patients, and it is just not true. I would go as far as to say it is a Labor lie. I'll get the Minister for Health to—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Acting Prime Minister needs to withdraw that.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. I will ask the Minister for Health to add to my remarks.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Health.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member is respectfully incorrect and the reason why is very simple: because the item to which she referred has never been available under Medicare.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members on my right.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The fact of the matter is that hip arthroscopy for FAI has never been allowed or available under Medicare. There were some who wanted it to be available, but it was not done. What we also know is that the Medical Services Advisory Committee has been concerned that some doctors were inappropriately claiming for items to which they were not entitled. It is a very important principle that we shouldn't have improper claiming. There has been no change to the access to hip arthroscopy because hip arthroscopy for FAI has not been an available item under Medicare. There are some who wanted it. There are some, sadly, that the Medical Services Advisory Committee of Australia, the independent medical umpire, has identified as having been inappropriately co-claiming. It would be a very small minority, I'm certain, but the fact they have pointed that out and highlighted it has meant that this will mean these doctors will not continue to proceed with what was inappropriately done, inappropriately claimed. We know that there is strong precedence for this. I see the member for Ballarat. The member for Ballarat, in an article in The Guardian on, I think, 16 April 2015, boasted of saving a billion dollars from Medicare by making changes to Medicare items. In this case, we have not taken anything away. It has not existed previously. There continues to be clear medical advice from the Medical Services Advisory Committee that that should not change and that there should be no change to current practice.