Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Gallagher) to a question without notice I asked today relating to Medicare.

Last year the Minister for Health and Aged Care announced the biggest investment in bulk-billing in the history of Medicare. At the time, the minister said the Labor government had tripled incentives for GPs to bulk-bill. What he didn't say is that you only get bulk-billed if you're a pensioner or a child with a concession card. According to an investigation in Tasmania's Examiner newspaper today, some medical clinics are asking new patients to pay full fees. One practice in Launceston is apparently begging people to pay the surgery directly, stating on its website, 'We receive no government funding at all.'

Tasmania has the lowest rate of bulk-billing in Australia, despite the fact that Tasmanians are the sickest and most poorly paid people in the country. The government and the minister have been patting themselves on the back as the figures for the first two months of the policy have come in and there has been a 2.1 per cent increase. That's great, but what happens if you're not a pensioner or a child? Then, it seems, you can't get bulk-billing in Tasmania.

I have a very dear old schoolfriend who has battled with mental illness for years. She's on a disability support pension. She called me last week. She was absolutely beside herself because she can't get bulk-billed. She couldn't afford to see her GP because she couldn't afford the gap payment, and that meant she couldn't get the critical prescription filled that she needed. I gave her the money—that's not a problem. But how many other Tasmanians still can't afford to go to the doctor? Too many. How many can't afford to get that vital prescription? Too many. How many are ignoring or putting off dealing with nagging pain? Too many.

Australia prides itself on a fair-go attitude, but, if you are a retired Australian or a low-income family in a rural or regional area, there doesn't seem to be a fair go for you when it comes to health care. In fact, the best indication of your health is your postcode. Rich people live longer because they can afford to pay. The government's website says:

Medicare is Australia's universal health insurance scheme. It guarantees all Australians … access to a wide range of health and hospital services at a low or no cost.

But that's not quite true, is it? Because not everyone can afford to pay. Maybe the government should change the front page of the website to reflect the reality of our healthcare system. I reckon it should say something like, 'If you want to be healthy, you had better be wealthy,' because that's exactly where this country is at.

Question agreed to.