Desperate to avoid an election fought on health, the Coalition has matched Labor’s $8.5bn free GP pledge

With another major hint at just how soon Anthony Albanese will call the federal election, the Coalition has matched Labor’s $8.5 billion Medicare promise.

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Peter Dutton has backed Labor’s historic $8.5 billion investment to dramatically increase GP bulk billing and urged Anthony Albanese to implement the policy before the election as the Coalition desperately seeks to avoid a scare campaign on health.

The Opposition leader announced a future Coalition government would match the Medicare pledge “dollar-for-dollar” mere minutes after the Prime Minister took to the stage in Launceston to promote his plan to make nine in 10 GP visits free by 2030 at a rally of Labor Party faithful on Sunday.

Keen to avoid a repeat of 2016’s damaging “Mediscare” campaign, the Coalition’s quick decision to fund the same commitment has all-but neutralised what was slated to be a major policy centrepiece for Labor on the eve of the federal election, which multiple party sources now believe is firming around being held on April 12.

Labor staff are preparing to move into the party’s Sydney campaign headquarters from March 1, further fuelling expectations Mr Albanese will call the election the following week, while electorate organisers are preparing their mailouts to voters on the assumption of a mid-April polling day.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton delivers a speech at the Building a Bigger, Better SA Forum. Picture: NewsWire/Brenton Edwards

The PM on Sunday painted Mr Dutton as a risk to the country’s health system, warning the Coalition couldn’t be trusted after a “decade of cuts” that had put bulk-billing in “free fall”.

“In 10 years, the Liberals turned bulk-billing from a service you could count on, to something you have to search for,” Mr Albanese said.

The Coalition has argued 88.5 per cent of GP visits were bulk billed in 2021 compared to 77 per cent in 2023, but Labor and health experts have described this comparison as misleading due to the millions of free Covid-19 vaccine appointments skewing the data from four years ago.

Mr Dutton attempted to further wedge the Albanese Government on the issue by offering to help write the legislation to implement the new GP funding before the election.

“You’ll hear the scare campaigns from Labor, let them come and legislate (the bulk billing changes) in the parliament, if the Prime Minister’s not running scared from a budget then parliament is scheduled to sit with a couple of weeks and that’s when this legislation could be presented and passed,” Mr Dutton said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton and Opposition health spokesperson Senator Anne Ruston at the Building a Bigger, Better SA Forum. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

But only a change in regulation is required to make the changes, which include a tripling of the bulk billing incentive paid to GPs who do not charge their patient out-of-pocket costs.

Under Labor’s plan this would occur in time to come into effect from November 1, which is when adjustments to the Medicare Benefits Schedule are normally made.

At this time a GP would receive between $21.50 and $32.50 extra per patient given a bulk-billed appointment, on top of the existing Medicare rebate of $42.85 for a standard consult under 20 minutes.

The plan also includes an extra 12.5 per cent boost on all payments for clinics that agree to bulk-bill every patient, which will be paid quarterly.

Meanwhile, Mr Dutton said his party’s investment in Medicare heading into the election now totalled $9bn when including the $500 million already pledged to increase the number of subsidised psychology sessions per patient from 10 to 20 a year.

Originally published as Desperate to avoid an election fought on health, the Coalition has matched Labor’s $8.5bn free GP pledge