Health Minister Mark Butler has been caught lying to Australians as the Government quietly released new data, which proves bulk billing is collapsing under Labor\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Published by the Health Department on 12 August 2024, this data shows the GP bulk billing rate decreased over the 2023-24 financial year by a further 3% to 77.3%. When the Coalition left government, the bulk billing rate was 88.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of bulk billed GP services provided to Australians also decreased by 2.4 million in comparison to the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the out-of-pocket costs incurred by non-bulk billed patients rose by 5.5%. This backs up research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which shows Australians are paying the largest percentage of GP fees on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This concerning new data was published on the same day that the Health Minister falsely reassured South Australians listening to 5AA radio that \u201cbulk billing is turning around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shadow Minister for Health, Senator Anne Ruston said that despite the Minister\u2019s misleading rhetoric, the data clearly shows that it has only become harder and more expensive to see a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf the Minister seriously thinks his government has made it easier to see a doctor, he is completely out of touch with reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis past financial year, Australians\u2019 access to bulk billed GP services has been severely reduced. At the same time, it has literally never been more expensive to pay for a non-bulk billed appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, Australian families are feeling the pain of increased out of pocket costs and we know many have been forced to choose between seeing their doctor or paying the bills,\u201d Shadow Minister Ruston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Labor\u2019s primary care crisis is having serious flow-on consequences for our entire health system, as further demand is being pushed down the line to overrun hospitals across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Albanese Labor Government is plainly failing to ensure Australians have affordable and ready access to essential healthcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Health Minister Mark Butler has been caught lying to Australians as the Government quietly released new data, which proves bulk billing is collapsing under Labor\u2019s watch. Published by the Health Department on 12 August 2024, this data shows the GP bulk billing rate decreased over the 2023-24 financial year by a further 3% to 77.3%. … Continue reading “New data confirms primary care crisis under Albanese Government”<\/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-28530","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\/28530","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=28530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28531,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28530\/revisions\/28531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}