Once again today we see Kristina Keneally continuing to make baseless claims about Medicare – and forgetting her appalling track record as Premier.
It’s hardly surprising from the protégé of Obeid and Tripodi.
The reality is you simply can’t believe anything Keneally says about health.
Let’s look at some facts:
Bulk billing rates in Bennelong are higher under the Coalition (88.5%) than under Labor (85.4%). That means more people are visiting the GP without having to reach for their wallet.
In fact, last year there were 887,867 bulk billed GP visits in Bennelong – compared to 752,799 under Labor. That’s more than 135,000 extra visits to the GP without having to pay.
Federal funding for North Sydney hospitals has increased by 43% ($120 million) over the last 3 years.
At Ryde Hospital, the number of patients departing emergency within four hours has improved from 64% in 2012-13 to 84% last year.
At Ryde Hospital, 100% of patients needing urgent surgery are treated within the recommended waiting time. This is an improvement from 2012-13 when it was as low as 93%.
The Coalition is boosting funding for NSW hospitals by more than 60% between 2013-14 and 2020-21 (which is more than $2.6 billion extra per year).
In the week Keneally claimed she waited an hour at the Ryde Service Centre, official data shows not a single person waited an hour. The average wait was less than 13 minutes.
We’re spending more on Medicare than ever before – $23 billion this year. Under Labor it was $19.5 billion.
In this year’s budget we announced an additional $2 billion investment in diagnostic imaging over the next decade. That means more funding for mammography, fluoroscopy, CT scans and interventional procedures.
Unlike the Turnbull Government, Labor has not made any commitment to spend more on diagnostic imaging rebates.
We’re making medicines more affordable for people who need them – with an extra $7 billion worth of medicines now receiving government subsidy.
And we’ve announced major reforms that will help keep private health insurance affordable for Australians. Labor wants to cut spending on private health insurance
(ENDS)