Australians face lengthy delays for PBS and Medicare claims: Has Labor brought Services Australia to its knees?

Wait times for health services through Services Australia have skyrocketed under the Labor Government, with Australians now enduring nearly three times longer delays for PBS patient refunds and PBS safety net claims.

New data obtained by the Opposition through Senate Estimates exposes a dramatic rise in processing times for critical health claims, including PBS patient refunds, PBS safety net claims, Medicare entitlement statements, and enrolment services, all amid a cost of living crisis.

The findings follow a scathing report criticising the Department of Health for administrative “deficiencies” in managing the PBS, including failures to address several governance and performance blind spots.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston, blasted the government, declaring this as yet another glaring example of how Medicare has crumbled under their watch, despite the relentless and hollow rhetoric.

“The unaffordability of essential healthcare is continuing to get worse under this government, forcing Australians to delay seeing their GP or getting their scripts refilled because they just cannot afford it,” Senator Ruston said.

According to the newly released data, a significant portion of health claims in the 2023-24 period were processed outside Services Australia’s internal timeliness standards. Of the 13,726,197 claims processed, 8,228,720 were completed after the official deadline, indicating a substantial backlog.

Specifically, 77% of bulk billing claims were processed late, marking the second worst result across Services Australia’s entire health programme.

Senator Ruston added, “Now more than ever before, it is critical that the Government ensures Australians can have their Medicare and PBS claims paid on time, but instead they have sent the system backwards.”

However, Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten MP, has previously pointed the finger at the Coalition, accusing them of slashing around 6,000 staff and implementing the disastrous Robodebt program, which he claimed left Services Australia “gutted.”

Paul Fletcher, Shadow Minister for Government Services, said “Bill Shorten is leaving behind a trail of destruction at Services Australia. After two and half years, Labor have brought this vital agency, which almost every Australian will have cause to contact at some point in their lives, to its knees.”

Labor continues to trail the Coalition ahead of this year’s federal election. A YouGov poll, published on Friday, revealed the Coalition had a 51% to 49% two-party preferred lead over Labor.

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