Medicare

The majority voted in favour of a motion, which means it passed. Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own, but they can be politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

GENERAL BUSINESS NOTICE OF MOTION NO. 1149

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Morrison Government has published almost 1,000 changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), to be implemented in less than a month,

(ii) the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has described the changes as 'wilful incompetence' and noted on social media that:

'The release of the changes by government so close to the implementation date, has left the private health sector scrambling to prepare for the changes, and patients potentially out of pocket for hip, shoulder, hand, cardiac and other surgeries by thousands of dollars in some cases', and

(iii) the AMA has further warned that the changes will put the health system and patients at risk; and

(b) recognises that the proposed changes represent the biggest attack on Medicare in decades, snuck out in the middle of a pandemic; and

(c) condemns the Australian Government for their failure to consult with stakeholders about massive changes to the MBS and for their savage attacks on Medicare—the public health insurance system that Labor built and which has protected Australians' health for decades.