Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Pocock for the question. Let me be clear: I think people in the ACT do pay too much for access to private healthcare treatment. That's been a longstanding problem here in the ACT. It's one that I tried to focus on when I was in the assembly and continue to focus on.

It essentially comes down to a lack of competition in the private medical market here. We're a small market. We don't have the number of health professionals operating privately that some of the other jurisdictions have. But it is a real problem, and it does deserve a lot more scrutiny than it's getting. Canberrans pay a lot more than what their fellow Australians in other jurisdictions, including small jurisdictions, pay for private health cover. In fact, we have the highest private health insurance coverage in the country and the lowest utilisation of it, and some of that has to be linked to the prices that people pay for out-of-pocket expenses.

The focus that we've been having in health is to repair the damage that was done under Peter Dutton's work when he was the health minister, to make sure that we're investing in Medicare, that we're improving bulk-billing, that we're providing cheaper medicines and that we are ensuring Medicare urgent care clinics and other parts of Medicare are actually working. Bulk-billing, for example, was in a freefall when we inherited it. We're starting to turn that around. There is more to do here.

But I agree with Senator Pocock that the out-of-pocket costs, which are related to but not completely at the hand of the private health insurers, require a lot more scrutiny, including what people are paying here in the ACT. I would encourage them to shop around when they are getting their referrals to see if they can get lower prices from other medical professionals.