2025-01-14
Following a shocking report today showing SA bulk billing rates dropped to 7.4% in January and SA patients experienced the single largest increase in out-of-pocket costs of any state in last year, the Greens say SA patients would save hundreds of dollars a year and thousands over a decade under their fully costed ‘GP for Free’ plan.
On average, South Australians would save around $257 each in the first year and around $3,733 over a decade. South Australian families would save around $1,027 in the first year and around $14,913 over a decade. As polls point to a power-sharing Parliament the Greens say free healthcare will be on the table in any negotiations after the next election.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is Greens Senator for South Australia:
“You shouldn’t need a credit card to see the doctor when you’re sick. But the independent evidence shows it’s almost impossible to find a bulk billing GP in SA, and if you can, you are slugged with skyrocketing out-of-pocket charges.
“Medicare is sick in South Australia and the Greens have a fully costed lifeline to fix it. The Greens ‘GP for Free’ policy will save patients hundreds of dollars a year and thousands over a decade by incentivising Medicare bulk billing and establishing free local healthcare clinics.
“This is good for our health and for the hip pocket of every South Australian.
“Under the Greens plan individual patients in SA will save around $257 in the first year and around $3,733 over the decade, while SA families will save around $1,027 in the first year and $14,913 over a decade respectively.
“In the cost of living crisis, too many South Australians are putting off seeing the doctor because they can’t afford it. This is putting pressure on our hospitals and emergency services. In a country as wealthy as ours, healthcare should be free.
“The Greens are fighting for outcomes for everyday people, and that means being able to see a GP, psychologist, dentist or nurse for free with your Medicare card.
“South Australians deserve a truly universal healthcare system. The Greens suite of policies to get mental and dental into Medicare, expand bulk billing and build free local healthcare clinics so we can all see the GP for free will make Medicare fit-for-purpose in 2025.
“We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result. If you want to see the GP for free, the first step is to vote for someone who’ll fight for you.”
Hip pocket savings under ‘GP for Free’ plan
South Australia
- Average savings for an individual between 16 and 64 in South Australia – around $257 in the first year and around $3,733 over a decade
- Average savings for a household with two children under 16 and two individuals between 16 and 64 in South Australia – around $1,027 in the first year and around $14,913 over a decade
- With sixty local healthcare centres across SA, this could mean people in South Australia could save up to $20m in the first year;
Sturt
- Average savings for an individual in Sturt is around $290 in the first year and around $4,208 over a decade
- The bulk billing rate for Sturt in 2024 was 8.90%
- The Greens plan for free local healthcare centres means people in Sturt could save up to $2m in the first year.
National:
- The Greens plan for Local Healthcare Centres will save an adult around $324 in a year, and will save a child around $338 in a year.
THE GREENS’ PLAN FOR GP FOR FREE INCLUDES:
- FREE LOCAL HEALTHCARE CLINICS : The Greens will establish 1000 Free Local Healthcare Clinics across Australia, with government-employed healthcare professionals providing free services. There will be at least 6 Free Local Healthcare Clinics per electorate.
- GP, DENTIST, REGISTERED NURSE OR PSYCHOLOGIST: These Free Local Healthcare Clinics will allow people to access free healthcare with a GP, a dentist, a registered nurse or a psychologist with no out-of-pocket costs.
- TRIPLE THE BULK BILLING INCENTIVE FOR ALL: The Greens will ensure everyone, and not just specific cohorts, can access a bulk-billed GP appointment in private practice by tripling the bulk-billing incentive for everyone with a Medicare card.
- LONGER GP APPOINTMENTS: The Greens will support doctors to spend more time with patients who need it by implementing a 20% increase to Medicare patient rebates for longer appointments.
- TRAIN THE WORKFORCE: The Greens will support our trainee GP workforce to ensure that GP trainees receive equal pay to their hospital trainee counterparts.
With bulk-billing options plummeting across the country and millions of people delaying healthcare due to cost concerns, the Greens have announced an ambitious plan to enable all Australians to go to the GP for free, as well as get free appointments with other primary healthcare professionals, at new Free Local Healthcare Clinics to be established in every electorate. The plan, part of the party’s ‘Robin Hood’ reforms, will be paid for by taxing big corporations that are profiting off price gouging during a cost of living crisis.
Each of these policies as part of the GP for Free plan has been independently costed by the PBO. Based on this analysis, our plan would be expected to cost approximately $54b over the coming decade.
With the cost of living crisis smashing people across the country, the Greens will use the upcoming election campaign to highlight how the Labor and Liberal parties have rigged the system in favour of the big corporations, allowing 1 in 3 to pay no tax at all while others price gouge their way to record profits, while only offering pathetic, bandaid solutions for people doing it tough.
With Labor and Liberal lacking the guts to take on the big corporations, the Greens say that change can only come by voting for it.
This election, the Greens are campaigning to hold their existing Senate seats and grow in the House of Representatives, in seats including Wills, Macnamara, Richmond, Sturt and Perth. In addition to stopping new coal and gas mines and ending native forest logging, the Greens will have a strong economic offering, centred around a series of ‘Robin Hood Reforms’ to tackle the housing and cost of living crises: a Big Corporations Tax on large companies’ excessive profits will raise $514b over the decade, which will fund cost of living policies including ‘Dental into Medicare’ and ‘GP for Free’.
A national poll funded by The Greens has shown that 74% of the people agree that the government should ensure people can go to the GP for Free.
In the power-sharing Parliament of 2010, the Greens secured dental into Medicare for children.