Labor pledges biggest Medicare boost in over 40 years
The federal government has pledged a multi-billion dollar boost to Medicare if successful at the upcoming election.
Australians will have access to an extra 18 million bulk-billed general practitioner visits a year as part of a major election pledge from the federal government.
The election date has yet to be announced but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised a re-elected Labor government would spend $8.5 billion expanding bulk billing and training GPs and nurses.
“I want every Australian to know they only need their Medicare card, not their credit card, to receive the health care they need,” he said on Sunday.
“This is a policy that lifts up our entire nation and ensures no one is held back and no one is left behind.”
Fewer GP clinics have been taking on bulk-billed patients as they struggle to keep up with rising operational costs and increasing service complexity.
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Australia’s bulk-billing rate plummeted to 20.7 per cent at the start of 2025, down from 35.7 per cent two years earlier, according to data released by health care directory Cleanbill in January.
The proposed cash injection would be the biggest investment in Medicare since its creation 40 years ago, the government said.
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) applauded the government’s workforce commitment to train 2000 new GPs every year by 2028 and incentivise more junior doctors to become specialist GPs, as part of the package.
But RACGP president Michael Wright flagged the proposal for a universal bulk-billing scheme wouldn’t necessarily mean everyone can access free medical care.
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“Extending bulk-billing incentives to everyone won’t necessarily mean everyone gets bulk billed, because patient rebates are still too low to cover the cost of care,” he said.
Also in deep election mode, Mark Butler’s gloves are off, with the health minister taking a well-aimed swing at federal Opposition Leader and former health minister Peter Dutton.
“Australia’s doctors voted Peter Dutton the worst health minister in Medicare history for a reason,” he said in a statement, referring to a 2015 poll in Australian Doctor Magazine.
The coalition is expected to defend Dutton’s record, claiming a 1.5 per cent increase in bulk-billing rates during his term as health minister in 2013 and a more than 10 per cent fall in rates since Labor took office in 2022.
The federal election must be held on a Saturday on or before May 17.
