Dr Mike Freelander MP, the Federal Member for Macarthur and a local Paediatrician for over 40 years, welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement regarding the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago.

Specifically, the Prime Minister announced a re-elected Albanese Government will invest $8.5 billion to deliver an additional 18 million bulk billed GP visits each year, hundreds of nursing scholarships and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program ever.

Australian patients and families will save hundreds of dollars a year in out-of-pocket costs, with patient savings of $859 million a year by 2030.

Labor’s record investment restores the $8.3 billion the Australian Medical Association says was cut from Medicare through the funding freeze initiated by Peter Dutton a decade ago.

For the first time, Labor will expand bulk billing incentives to all Australians and create an additional new incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient.

This will mean 9 out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030, boosting the number of fully bulk billed practices to around 4,800 nationally – triple the current number.

Labor will:

• Expand the bulk billing incentive to all Australians.
  • Labor tripled the bulk billing incentive for people who need to see their GP most often: pensioners, concession cardholders, and families with children.
  • That support has restored bulk billing for those 11 million Australians.
  • From 1 November, Labor will expand that incentive to all Australians.

• Introduce a new incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient.
  • From 1 November, a new Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program will support practices that bulk bill all their patients.
  • On top of the bulk billing incentive, fully bulk billing practices will receive an additional 12.5% loading payment on their Medicare rebates.
  • The combined investment means around 4,800 practices will be in a better financial position if they adopt full bulk billing.

Labor will deliver more doctors and nurses into Medicare, with 400 nursing scholarships and the largest GP training program in Australian history, funding the training of 2,000 new GP trainees a year by 2028.

Quotes attributable to Dr Mike Freelander MP, Member for Macarthur:

“I entered Parliament to advocate for better healthcare outcomes for Macarthur & so I am delighted by this announcement, as it is the most significant investment in building up Medicare since it was first launched by the Hawke Government

“Here in Macarthur, thousands of residents have benefited from our Cheaper Medicines policy, 60-day dispensing, the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Campbelltown & Liverpool and now this. It truly shows that only a Labor Government can & will deliver the healthcare outcomes we need.