New evidence that Australia’s veterans are hurting under Malcolm Turnbull’s GP-tax by stealth is yet another reminder of the ongoing damage of this Government’s unfair and out-of-touch health policies.
The Australian Medical Association’s warnings could not be clearer – veterans are paying the price for this Government’s freeze:
“The indexation freeze is clearly having an impact on access to care for veterans and this will only get worse over time”.
“The continuation of the indexation freeze puts a significant question mark over the future viability of the DVA funding arrangements and the continued access to quality specialist care for veterans.”
[AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, “INDEXATION FREEZE HITS VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE”]
The fact that Malcolm Turnbull is making health care less accessible and less affordable for Australia’s veterans shows just how wrong their priorities are – their freeze is impacting access to vital health services such as specialists, GPs and psychologists.
This is a Government that is fighting to give big business a $50 billion hand out – but they haven’t bothered to drop a single health cut since the election.
The freeze on the Medicare Benefits Schedule is only the beginning. Increases to PBS co-payments, cuts to the Medicare Safety Nets, abolishing bulk billing incentives for pathology and diagnostic imaging – these plans all need to be scrapped.
The Liberals have done nothing but irreversible damage to Australia’s health care system. The least they could do is drop their cuts in the Budget in 18 days’ time.
FRIDAY, 21 APRIL 2017