Labor's Message to HSU members

The HSU has asked both the Health Minister Tony Abbott and the Labor Health spokeswoman Julia Gillard to tell members why they have the best health policy. Here is the response of Julia Gillard:

Mark Latham and Julia Gillard celebrate the 20th birthday of Medicare earlier this year

Introduction

The next election is nothing less than a referendum about the future of Medicare. If the Liberals win, Medicare will cease to exist in all but name.

Another three years is all John Howard, Tony Abbott and Peter Costello need to turn Medicare from a universal public health system into an under-funded, dysfunctional welfare system.

Labor has made the following health policy announcements, with more to come before the election:

Bulk billing

Labor wants to rebuild Medicare for the 21st century. Unlike the Howard Government's plan for a means tested Medicare with incentives to bulk bill only concession card holders, children under 16 and people living in particular parts of Australia, Labor's $1.9 billion package to reverse the collapse in bulk billing offers incentives for bulk billing for all Australians.

This ensures everyone can access a doctor without needing to pay, no matter where they live or how much they earn. Independent experts have confirmed this policy will see bulk billing rates lifted to 80 per cent and above.

Medicare Teams and Medicare After Hours

Labor will improve access to Medicare services through the introduction of Medicare Teams and Medicare After Hours. Patients will be able to access frontline health care when they need it most which will ease pressure on our public hospitals.

It will also add to Labor's plan to lift bulk billing rates back up from 68 percent to 80 percent.

Labor's policy to provide Medicare Teams for health hotspots will improve access to bulk billed GP services where doctor numbers are low or bulk billing rates are in freefall.

Medicare After Hours will fund a national after-hours triage hotline, Medicare After-Hours clinics co-located with public hospitals and accredited after-hours GP clinics.

Health reform

Labor will lay the foundation for long-term reform of the health system. The focus of this reform will be to put the patient first. Labor will establish a National Health Reform Commission to drive the reform process and bring together all the major players in the health system for a summit within the first three months of a Latham Government.

Health unions will be key participants at the summit.

Labor Leader Mark Latham and Premiers and Chief Ministers have jointly announced a commitment to Working Together for Medicare. Labor is committed to renegotiating the current unfair Australian Health Care Agreements and replacing them with Medicare Partnership Agreements.

Alongside other steps on health reform, these new agreements will ensure the needs of public hospitals are properly met by Labor.

Dental

When the Howard Government abolished the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in 1996, there were 380,000 Australians waiting an average of six months for public dental care. There are now over 500,000 people waiting up to five years to get their teeth fixed.

Labor will work in partnership with the States and Territories to implement Australian Dental Care which will provide up to 1,300,000 extra dental procedures for Australians, enough to clear the existing backlog and substantially reduce the waiting lists.

Under Labor's plan, concession card holders, such as pensioners, health care card holders and their dependents will now get:

• Free check ups when they need them.

• As well as subsidised dental treatments, restorations and dentures.

Obesity

Labor will establish a Community Wellbeing Fund to help Australians get involved in sport and leisure activities at the community level and improve dietary habits through broad scale education and health promotion. Labor will also develop a National Strategy to Reduce Childhood Obesity.

Labor will also ban all junk food advertising during all P (preschool), C (children) classified programs, and during G (General) classified programs that are, as defined by the Australian Broadcasting Authority, clearly aimed primarily at children.

Vaccines

Australian children will be protected against deadly diseases as Labor will fund ALL the recommended vaccinations, including the vaccines against pneumococcal disease, chickenpox and the new injectable polio vaccine.

MRIs

Labor will provide 10 new Medicare licences for Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines in public hospitals. This means less chance of travel for in-patients to another hospital for an MRI scan and, for out-patients, means no need to travel long distances, wait in long queues or pay high fees to a private MRI provider.

Conclusion

At the next election, Australian voters will have a clear choice about the health system they want. It will be a choice between a universal health system based on the Australian values of fairness and access, of looking after each other, and with a revitalised Medicare at its centre.

Or, a continuation of a government that wants to see Medicare die and rubs salt into the wound by wasting precious health dollars on a taxpayer-funded advertising blitz to benefit the Liberal Party.

Clearly Labor wishes to involve all health workers in tackling the problems in our health system. In government Labor intends to closely involve the HSU in finding solutions.

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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU)
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 17:19:26 EST