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Rudd Labor Government To Retain Medicare Safety Net

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Media Statement - 22nd September 2007

A Rudd Labor Government will retain the Medicare safety net as Australian working families have come to rely on it for help with their family budgets.

The Medicare safety net was introduced in 2004.

Over the last 11 years, health costs have skyrocketed under the Howard Government with out of pocket costs for GPs doubling in that time.

Federal Labor understands that Australian families are already under pressure from rising petrol prices, grocery costs, childcare costs and nine consecutive interest rate rises under the Howard Government.

It is these cost of living pressures that have made the safety net necessary.

With about one million people each year receiving some cost relief from the safety net, Federal Labor will not put more pressure on family budgets by taking that assistance away.

Federal Labor knows there is some inequity in take-up of safety net benefits, which reflects a lack of access to Medicare-funded health care in some regions. These inequities are often most acute in outer urban, rural and remote communities.

That’s why Federal Labor’s $220 million GP Super Clinics will be prioritised in locations where there is low take up of safety net benefits and under-utilisation of Medicare services driven by poor access to doctors and specialists.

By retaining the safety net, and ensuring that GP Super Clinics are located in areas with little use of the Safety Net, Federal Labor will ensure better access to health care services across Australia.