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News & Trends - Pharmaceuticals

Services Australia fires back at Coalition claims amid pre-election healthcare debate

Health Industry Hub | January 23, 2025 |

Services Australia has refuted claims from Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston, and Minister for Government Services, Bill Shorten MP, over skyrocketing wait times for health services. The Opposition asserts that Australians are now facing delays nearly three times longer for PBS patient refunds and PBS safety net claims under the Labor Government.

A Services Australia spokesperson told Health Industry Hub that the figures cited by the Opposition reflect averages from the 2023-24 financial year and fail to consider a major workforce increase of 3,000 staff in November 2023 who were onboarded by mid-January 2024 and finished training in April 2024.

“When comparing 2021-22 and 2023-24, it’s important to understand pressures on the agency were masked during COVID-19 when staffing was significantly bolstered on a temporary basis. As the agency returned to baseline funding, it became clear that our supply of staff wasn’t meeting demand.

“With the increase of staffing, we now have more officers were available to process claims, leading to a fall in processing times,” explained a Services Australia spokesperson.

Data from the 2024-25 financial year indicates a marked improvement. From July to September, average processing times for health claims – including PBS patient refunds, PBS safety net claims, Medicare entitlement statements, and enrolment services – showed significant progress. However, figures for October to December 2024 are not yet available to confirm the trend.

The escalating debate comes as healthcare emerges as a key battleground in the lead-up to the Federal election. The Coalition has launched a “Health Facts” webpage, blaming Labor for a primary healthcare crisis and increasingly unaffordable healthcare. But critics remind voters of the Coalition’s own track record.

When the LNP, led by Tony Abbott, won the 2013 election, Peter Dutton had served as shadow health minister for over five years. Despite Abbott’s pre-election promise of “no cuts to health,” the 2014 Budget papers revealed total health portfolio savings of over $6 billion over four years. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, real per-person health spending under the Coalition rose by just 0.7%, barely enough to address population ageing.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has not shied away from drawing comparisons.

“I make no apology for pointing out, as we lead into an election campaign, that on healthcare, on Medicare in particular, there is the clearest possible choice between a Labor Government… and a Liberal Party led by a man who doctors voted as the worst health minister in the history of Medicare,” Minister Butler said earlier this month.

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