Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. How is the Albanese Labor government working for Australians to strengthen Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for her question, and also for taking part in the announcement this morning of the inner-north Medicare Urgent Care Clinic. This will be one of five clinics across Canberra, which build on the ACT's highly successful nurse-led walk-in clinics, with additional services like nurse practitioner services; allied health professional services, like emergency physio; and access to imaging services to help with fractures and the like.

There are now 30 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics around Australia already open and operating. An additional 12 providers have been announced and all 58 will be open and operating by the end of the year. These clinics will be operating seven days a week—those open are already doing that—with extended hours. They're open to walk-in patients who need urgent care for non-life-threatening emergencies. In just a matter of weeks, those services that are open have seen about 50,000 patients; a third of them were kids under 15 and a third have been seen on weekends. Of those seen on weekdays, one in five has been seen after 6 pm. This is already making it easier to see a doctor when and where people need it and, importantly, also taking much needed pressure off our local hospital emergency departments. Importantly, every service is fully bulk-billed. For this side of the parliament, bulk-billing is the beating heart of Medicare. After 10 years of cuts and neglect to our Medicare system, we know bulk-billing has been in serious decline and gap fees have been rising. The member for Canberra knows that as well as anyone because, here in the ACT, we have some of the lowest rates of bulk-billing in the country.

None of this was an accident. The Liberal Party has never supported bulk-billing. Remember, John Howard called it 'an absolute rort'. The Leader of the Opposition, when he was health minister, complained that there were, in his words 'too many free Medicare services'. Well, he took care of that, famously trying to abolish bulk-billing altogether, making every single patient pay every single time they visited a doctor. When he couldn't get that through the Senate, instead, he started a six-year-long freeze of the Medicare rebate. Our approach could not be more different. The centrepiece of our budget delivered by this Treasurer in May was the biggest investment in bulk-billing in the 40-year history of Medicare. Tripling the bulk-billing incentive is a measure that takes effect in just two weeks time, making it easier for 11 million Australians to see a doctor free of charge. That's working for Australia to strengthen Medicare.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.