Labor is in damage control over their Mediscare lies, this morning caught out claiming official bulk billing figures they trumpeted in Government now don’t apply because they are in opposition, in another major gaffe.
Annual Medicare figures today show that an extra 17 million GP services were bulk billed under the Coalition last year compared with Labor following another year of record Medicare investment by the Turnbull Government.
This saw GP bulk billing rates hit a record high of 85.1 per cent in 2015-16, higher than both the Rudd-Gillard or Hawke-Keating Labor Governments.
Yet it’s clear Labor’s Mediscare know no bounds, with Shadow Labor Health Spokesperson Catherine King now trying to spin the Australian public that “the statistics the Government is using are “misleading” and “should be rejected”.
Except Ms King clearly forgot to check with her Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek, who was more than happy to stand by the official bulk billing statistics when she was Health Minister during the Rudd-Gillard Government.
And in a double blow for Ms King, Ms Plibersek’s media release is another reminder that GP bulk billing rates were lower under Labor than the 85.1 per cent recorded under the Turnbull Government today.
THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
Minister for Health
MEDIA RELEASE
24 May 2012
Bulk billing rates at record highs
Bulk Billing rates reached a record high in the March quarter, with 81.2% of GP services bulk billed.
Ms King’s gaffe today will only continue to fuel concerns in Labor’s party room that Bill Shorten’s Mediscare lies will hurt the party’s trust with the Australian people in the long run.
Particularly after it was Ms King herself who, during the election campaign, was forced to admit Medicare bulk billing rates were higher under the Turnbull Coalition than under Labor:
KELLY: Bill Shorten is saying we want to campaign about bulk billing but in actual fact the Government’s performance is better than Labor’s.
KING: Well certainly. Well I’d welcome that. I’d welcome that bulk billing remains high – that’s a good thing, we want to preserve that.
- Catherine King – 22 May 2016 – Sky News Agenda
And let’s not forget what Ms Plibersek had to say when Labor first introduced the Medicare pause on indexation, which runs completely counter to Bill Shorten’s Mediscare lies today:
Doctors earn enough money to bear the Federal Government’s controversial freeze on MBS rebates, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says.
Ms Plibersek dismissed concerns that the freeze — which will remove $664 million from the MBS over four years — will pressure doctors to compromise care.
“I understand that GPs have all sorts of expenses in running their surgeries and employing staff and so on, but the average billing from Medicare is more than $350,000 a year.”
– 22 May 2013 – Australian Doctor
Bill Shorten’s Mediscare lies have left Labor exposed by a Leader whose credibility is now terminally damaged with the public and has weighed down his party with billions of dollars of promises they cannot afford.
Bill Shorten and Labor made their bed with Mediscare. The question is whether they can stop lying in it.
