Today marks the 40th anniversary of Australia\u2019s universal health insurance system \u2014 Medicare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 1 February 1984, Medicare has been the world-class foundation of our modern health system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its architects were some of our nation\u2019s distinguished leaders \u2014 notably the Hon Dr Neal Blewett AC, the late Professor John Deeble AO and the late the Hon Bill Hayden AC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the 40th anniversary, we acknowledge and remember their contribution to delivering a major social reform \u2014 a simple, fair and affordable insurance system, that helps all Australians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Medicare gives Australian citizens and permanent residents access to a wide range of health and hospital services at no cost or low cost. Through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the cost of medicine for most medical conditions is also heavily subsidised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of Medicare, Australia\u2019s health system is one of the best in the world. Australia ranks highly among OECD countries for many key indicators, including life expectancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way Australians access Medicare has changed since the opening of the first Medicare office at Bankstown on 1 February 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheques and physical paperwork are no longer our main way of doing business – today Medicare processes almost half a billion services a year, with most claims made on the spot at the doctor\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australians go online to access and manage their Medicare account through myGov, and My Health Record helps to securely store all their health data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Labor Party built Medicare and it is the Labor Party that will continue to ensure it serves all Australians in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Every day, everywhere I go, people talk to me about healthcare and how important it is to their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are so lucky to have a system like Medicare in this country and we owe a great debt to people like Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke who fought so hard to deliver it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen Medicare and make it easier and cheaper to get quality healthcare, by tripling the bulk billing incentive and making medicines cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we mark the 40th anniversary of Medicare, it is also vital that we keep strengthening Medicare to work towards ensuring Australians can access the right care, at the right place and the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn 2023, Australians saved more than $250 million on the price of their medicines, with even greater savings expected in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a Labor Government that built Medicare and it is only a Labor Government who will continue to protect and strengthen Medicare”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMedicare\u2019s 40th anniversary is a nationally significant milestone. It\u2019s a time to reflect on how far we\u2019ve come and look ahead to what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo celebrate, we\u2019re releasing a commemorative Medicare card design. If you\u2019re due to get a replacement card between 1 February and 31 December 2024, it\u2019ll be a special 40-year anniversary edition. All digital Medicare cards will also be updated with the new design from 9 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvolving over the last 40 years from paper forms and fax machines to today\u2019s digital claims, Medicare continues to streamline and adapt service delivery for both customers and health providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the last year alone, Services Australia processed over $77 billion in Medicare-related payments and took nearly 11 and a half million calls for Medicare-related enquiries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Australia\u2019s universal health insurance system \u2014 Medicare. Since 1 February 1984, Medicare has been the world-class foundation of our modern health system. Its architects were some of our nation\u2019s distinguished leaders \u2014 notably the Hon Dr Neal Blewett AC, the late Professor John Deeble AO and the late the … Continue reading “Celebrating 40 years of world-leading Medicare”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25010,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25009\/revisions\/25010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}