Labor Blog

Health Care Form: Abbott plans to rip another $1b out of health care!

Nicola Roxon posted Thursday, 19 August 2010

When Bob Hawke addressed the Labor Party launch earlier this week he said when you make a judgment about what political party to vote for, you have to look at their form.

What do we know about Mr Abbott’s form as Health Minister?

We know he cut $1 billion of funding from public hospital funding. We know he capped GP Training places, and we know he ignored a chronic shortage of nurses.

Already this election we know that Mr Abbott has promised to cut funding for Emergency Departments, cut elective surgery improvements, cut GP Super Clinics, cut after hours services and cut local control.

So perhaps it doesn’t come as much surprise that yesterday’s Coalition costings announcement included $1.15 billion of new cuts to come out of the PBS. Cuts like these will push up the prices of pharmaceuticals, especially for pensioners.

This will slug pensioners and concession card holders around $28 extra per person a year for prescription drugs.

This comes on top of Mr Abbott’s 1.5% business tax hike that would put even more pressure on prices at chemists, supermarkets and at the petrol pumps.

Like Bob Hawke said – look at their form!

The last time a Liberal-National Coalition Government was elected in 1996, they immediately hit pensioners with an 18.5% price hike for drugs listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

That’s Mr Abbott’s way – hit the people least able to afford it, the sick and the elderly who vitally depend on prescription medicines, but at the same time give all the breaks to billionaires like Clive Palmer.

When health is such a pressing issue in Australia – is it really wise to go down Mr Abbott’s path of cutting GP Super Clinics, cutting the after hour GP Helpline, and cutting e-health investments?

Mr Abbott and the Coalition have poor form on health and they haven’t done anything to show they are capable of turning it around.

You just can’t trust Mr Abbott with our health system. Don’t risk your family’s health and future with Tony Abbott.

If you need to jig your memory what it was like last time Mr Abbott got his hands on our hospitals – visit www.abbotthospitalcuts.com

Tags: benefits, cuts, health, Medicine, Nicola, PBS, Pharmaceutical, Roxon, scheme

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6 Comments

EllieMessina from Brisbane , Queensland Tuesday, 14 September 2010, 23:14

Australia may be ranked as one of the healthiest countries (compared to Canada, Germany, NZ and the United States) but in relation to the Australian health system – there are some serious problems. The main issues arising are in the public health system where there aren’t enough doctors or trained nurses working - as well as the number of hospital beds provided. General practitioners (GP’s) are also in need of a serious reform as their service is generally limited location-wise as well as socially and even financially. Labor’s health reform plans to “provide better health and better hospitals for Australian working families”. “It will also make sure more hospital beds are available, there are more doctors and nurses, and it is easier to receive high quality GP and primary case services close to home”. The Gillard Labor government plans to deliver $7.3 billion towards the health reform over the next five years. Among the many, GP super clinics, a large amount of new hospital beds and training for more doctors, GP’s and nurses are promises that Labor plans to achieve and invest in financially. The GP super clinic especially is an excellent idea. People who have minor injuries often get stuck in emergency departments and they have to wait for hours on end to be treated or sent to another clinic. People who are also seeking regular treatments could medical help here rather than clogging up the emergency room in hospitals. This would take the pressure of doctors and nurses to tend to a large number of people waiting in the emergency room at 2am. Families would certainly be helped as well, parents having sick young children would be treated without sitting in a waiting room all night. In rural cities where it would take awhile to even book a GP appointment let alone wait in an emergency room to seek medical attention for a minor injury would greatly appreciate a 24-hour GP clinic. The GP super clinic and the other investments that Labor promises are much needed in order to improve Australia’s current health system. Without these reforms, health costs “…would have consumed entire revenue raised by states and territories”. To ensure the system’s funding is sustainable – Labor is also providing $15.6 billion in “top-up” funds for public hospitals over the next decade. Taking action now will also ensure that such health problems such as obesity and diabetes can be managed. So far, the Labor party has already made some key achievements such as – increasing hospital funding by 50 per cent and cutting binge drinking - seeing Alco-pop consumption fall by 30 per cent after releasing a $103 million binge drinking strategy. Compared to the Liberal party Abbott has a poor approach to health reform as he has cut $1 billion of funding towards public hospitals, ignored the chronic shortage of nurses and is apposed to the idea of GP super clinics. Personally, I have heard many stories whereby the public health system has worked against people really in need of medical attention. Labor’s reform could potentially work to Australia’s advantage. The party has invested a lot of money into this health reform for all the right reasons – to improve “provide better health and better hospitals for Australian working families”. As well as make “it is easier to receive high quality GP and primary case services close to home”. One of my mine concerns is the need for fairness in terms of financial salaries to certain GP’s and nurses. GP’s that would be employed in one of the new Super GP clinics should receive a higher salary than regular GP’s due to hours and possibly even the intensity of wounds (having to deal with more urgent injuries). Nurses that would be trained to take on more doctor-related responsibilities (such as writing prescriptions) should also receive a higher salary due to their highly trained qualifications compared to regular nurses. Thanks everyone http://alp.org.au/agenda/health-reform/ http://alp.org.au/agenda/health-reform/more-doctors-and-nurses-for-emergency-departments/ http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/healthcare.html http://www.healthreform.org.au/
alexmiby from Bolton Point , NSW Tuesday, 24 August 2010, 14:24

GLaDOS -- suicide rate among young people was actually increasing during Howard government reign and decreasing under Rudd's government. ------------- brianpassmore123 -- the only alternative is private hospitals with subsequent skyrocket increases of their charges as private medical insurance companies come into play; would you like to have THAT much expenses on your own instead? Or let's try and find how we can sustain it?
brianpassmore123 from Vermont , Vic Friday, 20 August 2010, 14:20

Can I believe that the anount of money thrown at voters is for real? This Labor Govt cannot sustain the debt it has promised. In 4 years a conservative party will be back, just like in the U.K. earlier this year. The U.K. understood that their 54 million population , (not just 20), need to pay back the debt. Why is Labor on a road to financial destruction? The money promised is not realistic.
GLaDOS from Aperture , Science Friday, 20 August 2010, 12:20

Labor's spending on Mental Health could be better. Any chance of reviewing and increasing the budget for this at a later stage if not now? The charts in your own fact sheets on suicide rates show it declining during Howard's years and increasing during Labors so it needs a lot more than the $276.9 million you're planning to spend over a four year period. While he might lack in other areas of health, the Mad Monk has committed to $1.5 billion over four years with $299.7 million in the first year and even that falls short of the $545 million thats needed in the first year alone to really tackle the issue. https://www.getup.org.au/files/campaigns/gtfactsheetmentalhealth.pdf
dvigor1 from kingston , qld Friday, 20 August 2010, 07:20

three main election winners:- 1) a dental rebate scheme such as medicare for all Australians - could call it dentacare - two thirds of the population has teeth problems and can't afford to go to dentists 2) the opposition danced around apprenticeships for young school leavers $6000 at the end of the 3 years - a nice incentive but what about the young folk that have already left school and living out of home - cant afford to live, which leads to the huge dropout. Why not pay apprentices a a basic wage whilst on the job training as there're are many workers out there already working as experienced labourers. 3) a rebate scheme for animals so that people can afford to give their pets the necessary care needed - leads to less strays and a smaller workload for councils so that they can keep regos etc. down maybe.
hurtling from North Perth , WA Thursday, 19 August 2010, 21:19

a Ranga... or a Wingnut. An acute intelligence... or an athletic immaturity. A proven negiator... or a pious naysayer. A national curriculum or a curriculum for nationalists. Nurture... or negativity. Tried... or try hard. A Julia... or a joke. A Gillard... or a gimmick. The choice is clear.