Opposition leader Bill Shorten has used his center-left Labor Party’s official campaign launch to cast July 2 general elections as a referendum on the future of Australia’s universal health care system. He urged the government to reconsider.
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Australian Medical Association chief Dr Michael Gannon also called on both parties to upgrade the “antiquated” and “rusty” Medicare payments system.
The acknowledgement of the health IT concerns comes in the wake of Shorten accusing the current government of planning to privatise Medicare.
“We just don’t want there to be any sense of doubt in the minds of the public”, he said. Now the Liberals are trying to pull off the biggest fraud of this campaign.
But in a bid to take the sting out of it, he announced yesterday the coalition had abandoned plans to outsource Medicare’s backroom operations.
The government sought expressions of interest in 2014 to replace the decades-old mainframe infrastructure it now relies on to process $19 billion with of medical benefits claims a year with a “dynamic and innovative commercial solution”. The government could not give a clear answer on Monday as to the fate of the task force or the PwC contact.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Friday expressed regret that an Islamic cleric, who once said AIDS was a fitting punishment for being a homosexual, was invited to a government-hosted dinner.
“We will continue to improve the way in which Medicare interacts, interfaces with its customers, with citizens and patients, is delivered, but it will all be done by Government and within Government”, he said.
Now the Treasurer Scott Morrison has personally tasked the Productivity Commission to investigate how services including Medicare can be privatised. The Kirribilli function was the first time an Australian leader has hosted an iftar – fast-breaking – dinner and Turnbull, campaigning for election on July 2, praised the contribution Muslim people had made to Australia.
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Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said she would not rule out involving the private sector in the inevitable IT improvements, which would need to happen within five years.
