Free blood tests: Labor raises health pressure

Bill Shorten will promise to fund $200 million worth of free blood tests for cancer patients and older Australians.

Bill Shorten will promise to fund $200 million worth of free blood tests for cancer patients and older Australians as he moves to ­reignite the bitter clash over pathology bulk billing that erupted during the 2016 Labor Medicare scare campaign.

As Labor strives to make health a hot-button issue for voters, the Opposition Leader will today confirm an extension to his signature $2.3 billion cancer care package after being forced to deny it was underfunded by $5.8bn.

It will be Labor’s fifth health announcement since the election was called last Thursday.

Labor will promise to guarantee the three million free pathology tests a year needed by cancer ­patients. The package will also fund 20 million pathology tests used by older Australians each year. Larger pathology businesses have warned they need more taxpayer funds to ensure bulk billing is maintained for blood tests.

Scott Morrison yesterday ­accused Mr Shorten of being ­incapable of managing money after questions over the costings of Labor’s cancer care package.

Mr Shorten rejected the claims and will today double down on the policy by announcing its ­expansion.

Returning to the battleground that almost cost Malcolm Turnbull the 2016 election, Mr Shorten will also revive Labor’s discredited scare campaign over Medicare by accusing the Coalition of presiding over “savage cuts”.

A senior Labor source said last night the ALP was succeeding in dragging the Coalition into its preferred territory of health, hospitals and Medicare.

Labor also promised yesterday to increase to 50 per cent the ­commonwealth’s share of funding to the states for public hospitals, a commitment worth $2.8bn.

But it conceded to Sky News that the 50 per cent target would not be achieved until the end of the next hospital funding deal which runs from 2020 to 2025.

During the 2016 election campaign, the Coalition was forced into a hasty retreat after Labor sided with large pathology labs, ­including those run by multi­national healthcare providers, to oppose the removal of $650m in bulk-billing incentives.

Mr Shorten was accused of ­siding with the multinational companies after it was revealed pathology giant Sonic Healthcare had donated to the Labor election campaign.

The government ditched the bulk-billing plan and, in the 2017 budget, pledged more funds to keep the incentive payments in order to retain high levels of bulk billing on pathology services.

“A Shorten Labor government will ensure vital blood tests are protected from Scott Morrison’s health cuts — investing $200m to keep pathology tests free for older Australians and Australians with cancer,” Mr Shorten will say today.

“Blood tests are the frontline of treatment for cancer and serious diseases. They are critical not only for diagnosis, but to track whether a treatment is working or not.

“Bulk billing for blood tests is at breaking point — cancer patients will either have to pay, or there will be a reduction in services.”

Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King yesterday accused Health Minister Greg Hunt, who was campaigning at a cancer ­research centre in Melbourne, of a “desperate attempt to discredit our plan”.

Health Department analysis of cancer-related Medicare items suggests that if Labor promised to fund all existing cancer care ­including diagnostic, consultation and treatment over the next four years, it would end up $5.8bn short. Ms King said she had ­written to Health Department secretary Glenys Beauchamp who confirmed the department had not costed Labor’s policy, despite having provided analysis to the minister’s office based on what Labor had suggested its policy would be.