MADELEINE KING MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR TRADE
MEMBER FOR BRAND

New data has confirmed what people in Brand already know – that health costs have never been higher than under Scott Morrison.

The Government’s own Health Department has revealed to the Senate that people in Brand pay an average out-of-pocket fee of $37.43 to see a GP.

This is a record high – up $8.48 or 29 per cent since the Liberals were elected in 2013.

Brand had the third highest increase in fees of any federal electorate in WA, behind Fremantle and Pearce. It’s just not fair.

Specialist out-of-pocket fees are also at record highs, with people in Brand paying an average $85.70 to see a specialist – up a staggering 54 per cent under the Coalition.

Only 20.9 per cent of people in Brand are always bulk billed by specialists, so these costs are hitting thousands of locals across Brand every year.

The Federal Member for Brand, Madeleine King, said the figures were a damning indictment of the Coalition’s record of cuts and neglect in health.

“It’s further proof that the Morrison Liberal Government doesn’t care about everyday people struggling with the costs of health and other vital services,” she said.

The release of the figures come as the Morrison Government makes changes to bulk-billing incentives for outer-metro suburbs that could hit thousands more people in Brand.

Under the changes, the suburb of Baldivis has been reclassified from rural to metropolitan.

This means the bulk-billing incentive for GPs will fall from $9.65 to $6.40, potentially discouraging medical centres from providing bulk-billing services.