Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) (Repeal) Bill 2024 removes the fees imposed on the pathology sector for pathology applications. The bill responds to the findings of the 2022 health portfolio charging review by addressing the misalignment of fees charged under the Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) Act 1991 with the charging framework and providing fee relief and reducing administrative burden on the pathology sector. The bill will maintain a high level of confidence in the accuracy of Medicare-eligible pathology services by continuing to require service providers to meet requisite accreditation and quality-assurance standards. Importantly, the bill has the support of Australia's pathology sector, having been welcomed by stakeholders such as the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Australian Pathology and Public Pathology Australia. As such, the coalition will support this bill. We understand the importance of providing fee relief to the pathology sector and providing assistance to health providers, who are also dealing with Labor's cost-of-living crisis.

Pathology is an important part of the health system, but, as we all know from experience, you generally require a referral from a doctor to get a pathology test. That is why the coalition, while supportive of this bill, is calling out the Albanese government for the fact that it has never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor than right now under Labor. Labor promised to strengthen Medicare, but it has only been weakened. Bulk-billing has dropped 11 per cent under the Albanese government to 77 per cent, whilst out-of-pocket costs have increased by 11 per cent in the past year alone. To put this into perspective: when the coalition left office, the bulk-billing rate was 88 per cent. When Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, was health minister, it was 84 per cent. In fact, Medicare is currently covering the lowest percentage of GP fees on record. On average, Australians are being forced to cover 45 per cent more of the cost to see a doctor—that's if you can see one—from their own pocket, in comparison to under the former coalition government.

Even more concerningly, the total number of GP visits declined by 2.4 million in the period 2023-24 because Australians are having to make the difficult decision between paying the bills and seeing their doctor. This means people quite simply are getting sicker and ending up in our already-overstretched hospitals. These figures make a mockery of Labor's claims regarding a proposed decade of cuts and neglect. The government is not providing the reform needed to ensure Australians have timely and affordable access to a doctor, which will in turn only put further pressure on Australia's struggling hospital system as this primary care crisis pushes patients towards emergency departments. This is shameless.

The coalition has put forward our plan to incentivise more junior doctors to pursue a career as a general practitioner and safeguard Australians' healthcare access. The package will invest $400 million to provide junior doctors with direct financial incentive payments, assistance with leave entitlements and support for pre-vocational training. This will ensure that junior doctors who pursue training as a GP in the community are not financially worse off compared to doctors who remain in the hospital environment.

A strong pipeline of home-trained GP graduates is critical to deliver essential health care to all Australians. And might I say, as a regional and remote MP, nowhere is it more needed than in the parts of Australia that I represent. It will help to ensure that Australians have more timely and affordable access to see their doctor, so that they can access essential services like pathology tests. So, once again, the coalition will support this bill to provide fee relief to the pathology sector. However, I will be moving an amendment to highlight this government's concerning record on Medicare. Thank you.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I confirm with the member for Durack, do you propose to make the amendment now or later?

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I might give way to the next speaker and I will return to the lectern. Thank you.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown (Ryan, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our health system's in crisis, and it's actually crumbling under the weight of government neglect. It's underfunded, it's under-resourced and it's overworked. Around a decade ago, the then LNP government cut bulk-billing payments for pathology and diagnostic imaging as part of their infamous Medicare co-payment reforms, a widely unpopular policy from the then health minister, now the Leader of the Opposition, that forced families to pay more for essential care. And for 24 years both Labor and the Liberals have failed to index Medicare rebates for pathology. Rebates haven't increased since 1999, even as costs have absolutely skyrocketed. Pathology clinics are telling us they just can no longer afford to provide bulk-billed tests at the current rebate rates. We've seen what happens when Medicare rebates fail to keep up with the cost of care. GP bulk-billing rates have plummeted and patients are being forced to pay that price. Add the cost-of-living crisis, and Australians simply cannot afford to see the doctor, the dentist or a mental health professional.

The bill before us today, the Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) (Repeal) Bill 2024, will make pathology cheaper—as it should be, because Medicare is broken in Australia. We don't have a universal healthcare system. Instead, we have thousands of Australians choosing between paying their rent and seeing a dentist or a psychologist. Almost 40 per cent of young Australians experienced a mental disorder in this last year. Almost a quarter of people who need mental health support are delaying or just not seeing a psychologist because of the cost. Forty per cent of Australians avoid the dentist because it costs too much. That is hundreds of thousands of people suffering. The major parties tell you that putting mental and dental health coverage in Medicare costs too much. They cry poor about funding the things that Australians need to be healthy—to actually live a good life. Miraculously, they have the funding to spend billions on fossil fuel subsidies and tax handouts to property developers. That's a rip-off. It shouldn't be this hard to make the health and wellbeing of Australians an absolute priority for Australia. Just bring mental and dental cover into Medicare; make it affordable and accessible for everyone.

The same will happen with pathology if the government continues to merely tinker around the edges of healthcare reform. The Labor government has promised that some pathology items will be indexed, but that doesn't start for another year—a year too late. And the majority of the tests, including some of the most commonly provided ones, won't even be included. This bill goes a small way to relieving administration costs. Really, the government should do more right now, because accessible pathology tests are vital to the functioning of our healthcare system and to Australians' health. Thank you.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Now that I have confirmed the procedure, I seek leave to move an amendment to the Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) (Repeal) Bill 2024.

Leave not granted.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.