Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme) Bill 2023. The purpose of this bill is to implement changes arising from recommendations of the Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance, undertaken by Dr Pradeep Philip, commissioned in November last year. The bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to remove the requirement for the Australian Medical Association to agree to the appointment of the Director of the Professional Services Review; amend consultation requirements for appointing other statutory office holders of the PSR to enable consultation with relevant peak bodies directly; establish a new statutory office of Associate Director of the PSR; and remove the requirement for the Chief Executive Medicare, or CEM, to consult with stakeholder groups prior to issuing a notice to produce documents.

The Professional Services Review, or PSR, is an independent statutory agency responsible for maintaining the integrity of Australia's Medicare agency through investigating and sanctioning inappropriate practice by health professionals. The coalition has a strong and long-held commitment to protecting the integrity and financial viability of Medicare. Our Medicare system underpins our world-class health system and, importantly, is there for all Australians. We are so fortunate in Australia to have a health system that is accessible and available to every Australian, no matter where they live or how old they are, and protecting its ongoing viability is key to this. Medicare, including the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, continues to provide Australians access to free hospital care and more-affordable health care and medicines.

When the coalition were in government, investment in the MBS and PBS grew significantly under our leadership. This meant we were able to subsidise and list over 2,900 new or amended drugs to allow more Australians affordable access to potentially life-changing and life-saving medicines and treatments. The coalition have been stewards in ensuring the viability of Medicare and supporting access to affordable health care for all Australians, having introduced this legislation in the last parliament. In fact, we oversaw record investment in this area, and we're committed to continuing that record through our commitment to investing $133 billion in Medicare over four years.

Our approach to Medicare saw the highest bulk-billing rates on record. That's why it has been really disappointing to see that since Labor came into government bulk-billing rates have been dropping consecutively every single month. The latest data shows a total Medicare bulk-billing rate of 77 per cent, and 80.2 per cent for non-referred GP appointments, in the 12 months to June this year. These are the lowest bulk-billing rates recorded since 2013. This is in stark comparison to the 12 months to June 2021, which saw rates at an all-time high of 88.8 per cent under the coalition.

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. This proves how important—