GORTON MP Brendan O’Connor has encouraged people in his electorate to sign Labor’s Medicare petition, opposing a proposal for patients to pay an up-front fee when visiting a doctor.
The proposal, to charge patients an up-front fee of $6 fee to visit a GP, has also been slammed by the Australian Medical Association.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has received the proposal through a nation-wide Commission of Audit.
Mr O’Connor said for almost 30 years, Medicare has been making healthcare affordable for all Australians but this was “now under threat from Mr Abbott and his government”.
“I believe that all Australians deserve the healthcare they need, not the care they can afford,” said Mr O’Connor.
“I have heard from many of my constituents about their concerns that the government is planning to put a tax on going to the doctor, and that healthcare for them and their family will become unaffordable.”
Under the scheme, pensioners and concession card holders would be exempt from the fee.
Families would be granted up to 12 bulk-billed visits annually.
“The Abbott Government has already hit Australians hard, with the biggest increase to private health insurance premiums in a decade,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Once the GP tax is introduced, I have no doubt the Abbott Government will open the floodgate to annual increases, making it tougher for families already struggling with the cost of living.”
