It probably comes as no surprise that the Morrison Government has renewed its attack on Medicare. The Federal Government has quietly announced over 1000 changes to how Medicare pays for important treatments and surgeries but has not released full details of the over 1000 changes.
They think they can sneak through big changes to undermine Medicare by quietly removing over 1,000 items that get Medicare coverage, and they are things we rely on.
There is little doubt this was done quietly because the Morrison Government is once again mired in rorts, with the latest being carpark funding for electorates they want to win, nothing to do with easing traffic and parking congestion. This is on top of the sports rort, the rort involving the community development fund for pools and the building better regional communities rort.
Liberal Governments have already cut billions in funding from Medicare and other health programs since 2014. Morrison is bungling the vaccine roll-out, the most important public health program in a generation. This comes at a time when we’re in most urgent need of a well-funded and well-staffed healthcare system. What’s worse is that they froze the Medicare indexation rate, which undermines bulk-billing.
Medicare has been a vital part of Australian society that has ensured that everyone, regardless of their bank account, gets the world-class medical care they need when they need it.
The attack on Medicare is entirely ideological as they seek to boost private health and private health insurance using funding that should be put into our public healthcare system and into Medicare.
We need to stop the Morrison Government from wrecking Medicare. Sign the petition at https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/stop-more-changes-and-cuts-to-medicare
