The Prime Minister’s Commission of Audit has confirmed the end of universal healthcare as we know it with recommendations for a $15 dollar GP tax, a hospital tax and more expensive medicines.
A tax of $15 per GP visit will cost Australians $1.6 billion in out of pocket costs.
The Abbott Government has confected a ‘budget emergency’ and is now using the Commission of Audit as cover to transfer health costs onto all Australians.
Australia has had a universal healthcare system for more than 30 years. These recommendations undermine that principle of universal healthcare.
The Government’s recommendations would set up a user-pays system, creating much greater health inequalities in our community.
It shows how out of touch this Prime Minister is, and how twisted his priorities are.
Placing barriers on access to primary care that Australians need attacks the fundamental principle of Medicare.
It creates a health system based on those who can afford to pay, not on the needs of patients and families.
Whether it is a hospital tax, GP tax, the biggest increase in health insurance premiums in a decade or cuts to public hospitals and medical research, we are seeing the dismantling of universal access to healthcare.
Tony Abbott promised no cuts to health prior to the election. He has broken his promise.
He promised no new taxes. A health tax will hit the most vulnerable Australians, and is a broken promise.
Labor believes that all Australians should get the healthcare they need – they shouldn’t have to foot the bill for Tony Abbott’s twisted priorities.