Catherine King

Catherine King

CATHERINE KING MP
Federal Member Ballarat
Minister Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Local Government

T (03) 5338 8123
Email: Catherine.King.MP@aph.gov.au

Catherine King MP
Electorate Office: 5 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat, VIC 3350

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Tuesday, 23 May 2017 / Published in MEDIA, NATIONAL MEDIA

GOVERNMENT’S MEDICARE “GUARANTEE” NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT’S WRITTEN ON

The Government’s Question Time spruiking of their so-called “Medicare Guarantee Fund” is a desperate attempt to distract from their Medicare cuts, with a leading health expert saying the fund does absolutely nothing to guarantee the future of Medicare.

The best guarantee for the future of Medicare would have been if the Turnbull Government dropped their entire Medicare freeze immediately – which they failed to do.

Former Secretary of the Department of Health Stephen Duckett has dismissed the Turnbull Government’s so-called “Medicare Guarantee Fund” as an attempted trick of accounting that does absolutely nothing to secure Medicare’s future under this Government:

“It provides no guarantee of policy stability, no guarantee of additional funding, and no guarantee that a future budget will not tear into the Medicare fabric in the way that characterised the 2014 debacle.”

[STEPHEN DUCKETT, THE CONVERSATION, 12 MAY 2017]

Bizarrely, the Turnbull Government does not think that the future of public hospitals is something worth guaranteeing – a concerning move that leads to less transparency:

“Medicare funding will actually be less transparent…. the Medicare Guarantee Fund does not include the Commonwealth’s contribution to public hospital funding.”

[STEPHEN DUCKETT, THE CONVERSATION, 12 MAY 2017]

While the Government is continuing to rip billions out of the rebates paid for GPs, specialists and allied health services, Medicare will never be safe.

While the Government is failing to allocate sufficient funding to address straining emergency departments and elective surgery wait times in our public hospitals, Medicare will never be safe.

Under the Turnbull Government, Medicare will never be safe.

TUESDAY, 23 MAY 2017

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© Catherine King. Authorised by Catherine King, Australian Labor Party, Canberra

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