David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Over the past couple of years I've heard from so many Canberrans about the cost of health care. Communities across the country are feeling the sting, but if you look at the statistics in the ACT, the situation is particularly bad. Here's what I've heard. Our public hospital system apparently just doesn't do scans. If you need one, you need a referral to get it done privately, and there's often no public option. If it's an ultrasound, that's going to set you back $146. That's one hundred and forty-six bucks in a cost-of-living crisis. Even if you need a critical scan while you're in hospital, you may not get it in the ACT. I've heard from one Canberran that their twin had to be ambulanced to Goulburn to get a scan and then ambulanced back to Canberra. If you need surgery, you're better off driving down the highway or getting on a plane.

The waiting lists in our public system are prohibitively long. If you go privately instead, that will likely cost you two to three times more here in Canberra than across the border in New South Wales. Even worse is the ridiculous situation where public clinics will turn away patients if they don't bring the types of referrals that allow the state government to bill the feds. This happens at what are meant to be universal access clinics. It's such a waste of GPs' time, and it's even more frustrating for patients, who then have to book another appointment and take more time off work.

The government has made some encouraging steps into fixing Medicare, but this is a system that has been broken for a long time, and there's so much more to do. People should not have to wait years for essential surgery, and it shouldn't be costing them thousands of dollars. If we truly believe in a universal healthcare system in this country, we need to actually deliver that for Australians.