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

I'm interested to understand if the government, in halving the amount that could be charged for care management, believe that older Australians are not receiving the care management services that add the value and the quality of care that we all agree that care management is very important to provide. Do the government believe they were being overserviced or not receiving the service that they were supposed to be receiving? Halving care management—there must have been a reason care management was put in at 20 per cent in the first place, recognising the value proposition of managing somebody's package to such an extent that they really are getting the precision care that they need. What are the government saying in reducing it? As you rightly point out, Minister, we don't want to reduce the level of care that somebody is receiving, but we also are talking about this bill, which is about choice and control of individuals. We've established the fact that the government value care management in terms of making sure that we maximise the best and most effective care for the Australians who are receiving these packages. I'm keen to understand why the government made the decision to cut care management in half: what was the problem you were trying to solve?