Labor makes $8.5b Medicare splurge its election centrepiece

The bulk billing component alone will cost $7.9 billion over the forward estimates, with the majority – though not all of it – accounted for in provisions in the last MYEFO update. How much of the package has not yet been accounted for remains unclear and will be revealed at the next financial update, which will be delivered after the election.

Some doctors have long complained that bulk billing has become unaffordable, with the current incentive not covering the underlying costs of an appointment – including insurance costs, staff salaries and professional fees.

Labor estimates the new incentive will mean nine out of ten GP visits are bulk-billed, leading to an additional 18 million bulk-billed visits annually. It said that would save Australians up to $859 million in out-of-pockets costs each year by the end of the decade.

The Medicare rebate would not be changed, with the boosted bulk billing incentive provided in addition to it.

Labor has repeatedly taken aim at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s record as health minister during the Abbott government. In 2014, Dutton backed a $7 Medicare co-payment, arguing the plan would plan would make the scheme more sustainable.

After public backlash and a failure to pass it through the Senate, the Coalition dumped the proposal in 2015 and has denied it will return ever since.

But it helped Labor make inroads at the 2016 election after it ran a campaign centred on claiming the Turnbull government would gut Medicare – dubbed the ‘Mediscare’ campaign by its critics.

What they said: “No Australian should have to check their bank balance to see if they can afford to see a doctor. That is not who we are. That is not the future we want for Australia,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.