Access to great local healthcare is a basic right and bulk billing is at the heart of Federal Labor’s plan.
Whether your family needs urgent or ongoing healthcare, under a re-elected Albanese Labor Government, every Australian will have access to free healthcare with their Medicare card.
Bulk billing shouldn’t be a service you have to search for. Instead, it must be a service you can count on.
That’s why we’ve promised to inject $8.5 billion – the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago.
The simple fact is that after years of neglect from the Liberals, bulk billing in our country was at risk of collapse.
The Government urgently moved to protect bulk billing for 11 million Australians who need to see their GP most often: pensioners, concession card holders and families with children.
Medicare data released last month shows an additional 1.6 million bulk billed GP visits have been delivered in Victoria since the Government tripled the bulk billing incentive in November 2023.
Our plan to strengthen Medicare has given GPs the confidence to bulk bill more often and this optimism will only grow by expanding the incentives.
Our mission is simple: every Australian, no matter where they live, no matter what their income or no matter what their needs, can see their doctor for free.
By 2030, we want nine out of 10 visits to the GP to be bulk billed, saving people hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
This builds on our other measures for a stronger Medicare.
A re-elected Albanese Government will make medicines even cheaper from January 2026 by cutting the maximum cost of a PBS prescription to $25 (from $31.60).
This is the cheapest price it’s been since 2004 and will save Australians over $200 million each year.
Pensioners and concession card holders will continue to pay $7.70 for the cost of their PBS medicines until 2030.
Federal Labor has also established 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) since coming to office, including 17 in Victoria.
Just this month, we made a $644 million commitment to open another 50 UCCs across the country if re-elected, including 12 in Victoria (such as Coburg, Sunshine, Warrnambool and Warragul).
We’re adding more medicines to the PBS and backing 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with an ongoing health condition.
In addition, Victoria’s public hospitals will receive a $402 million increase in 2025-26, from $7.30 billion to $8.18 billion.
This 12 per cent Commonwealth funding boost will help cut waiting lists and reduce waiting times in emergency rooms.
For these reasons, Australians face a clear choice at the forthcoming federal election: a stronger Medicare under Labor.
Medicare is a promise that no one will be left behind, and building Australia’s future is about making Medicare stronger for everyone.
Senator Raff Ciccone is a Federal Labor Senator for Victoria.
