Mr DICK (Oxley) (18:36): It's always interesting to hear the Orwellian tones from the government when it
comes to talking about health and Medicare because, while those opposite seek to trumpet their own alleged
achievements—like those we've just heard from the member for Reid—the truth of the matter when you unpack
this debate today is not what the government would have you believe. If we're being honest, it's much the same
for all the government's policies and their so-called achievements. Let's face it: after six years, we've got nothing
to show for it. That's why we get motions like this that are simply hot air designed to make things look better
than they really are for the government. Moving all the motions you want in the world won't change the facts.
The first thing that people should know about this motion from the government is that the facts have been cleverly
crafted to hide the truth about what is really going on here. The member refers to a bulk-billing rate of 86 per
cent. But what you might not know is that this statistic refers to the number of services that are bulk-billed, not
the number of patients. Patients who receive many services each year, such as older Australians with chronic
diseases, are likely to receive more services due to being sicker and being bulk-billed due to holding concession
cards. This inflates the percentage of services bulk-billed each year, but doesn't change the number of patients
bulk-billed each year. The government doesn't even report the number of patients bulk-billed each year. This
information comes direct from Dr Harry Nespolon, the president of the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners. He goes on to say:
… while it is true that 86.1% of general practice services are bulk billed, the proportion of patients fully bulk
billed (and who therefore face no out-of-pocket costs for care) is actually much lower.
According to survey results … only 23% of GPs bulk bill all of their patients.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that, when it comes to out-of-pocket costs, 'only
66 per cent of patients had all of their GP services bulk-billed in 2016–2017'.
So I find it staggering that members of the government would come into this place seeking to present a set of
numbers that would have Australians believing something entirely different—because it just isn't so. What these
figures show is that one-third of all patients paid an out-of-pocket cost for their GP care in that time period. The
same report found:
… half of all patients accessing Medicare-subsidised services (including GP services, as well as other health
services, such as medical specialists, allied health, pathology and diagnostic imaging) had to pay something from
their own pocket in that year.
What does all this mean? It means that one million Australians are reported to be delaying or avoiding seeing
a GP due to cost concerns. Let me say that again: one million Australians are delaying or avoiding seeing a GP
due to cost concerns.
It's about time this government woke up to the truth—the truth that Australians are finding it tougher to make
ends meet and that rising health costs inflicted by this government are making it even tougher. It is the following
line from the report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, a government body, that I find sums up
this government's lack of attention to Medicare and our health system. The report says that patient out-of-pocket
costs for a GP visit have increased by 140 per cent since 2005-06, while the patient rebate for Medicare Benefits
Schedule, MBS, item No.23—the most common item for which GPs bill Medicare—has increased by only 19
per cent over that period. The report says that patients now spend approximately $3 billion a year on non-hospital
Medicare services around Australia.
That brings me to the chronic underfunding by the federal government when it comes to Queensland hospitals
and Queensland patients. When the Treasurer handed down this year's budget, he also handed down a $316
million cut to Queensland hospitals, leaving the Palaszczuk state government to do the heavy lifting. Since being elected, the Palaszczuk government has delivered 527 new beds in Queensland hospitals—opened, available and
treating patients right now—and an increase in health funding. Why was that so? Because the previous Newman
government cut, sacked and sold Queensland. We saw nursing homes close under Campbell Newman. We saw
the member for Groom, who was a failed minister in that government, thrown out of office because of their lack
of commitment to health and hospitals funding in this state.
We know the federal coalition has sought to cripple health funding by continuously extending the Medicare and
GP freeze over six years. We know that the rate of increase in the number of services bulk-billed is slowing,
with annual Medicare stats showing that growth has slowed from 1.2 per cent in 2013-14 to just 0.2 per cent in
2017-18. If this trend continues, the bulk-billing rate is likely to begin to decline in the 2019-20 year.
I simply call on the government to stop with these motions congratulating themselves and get on with the job of
providing accessible and affordable health care for all Australians.