Shorten’s MRI plan clouded by costly rollout in 2011

Bill Shorten’s promise of 20 new MRI machines mirrors a previous Labor bungle.

The Opposition Leader used his budget reply speech to promise an extra 20 MRI machines for hospitals and imaging centres in ­regional areas and the outer suburbs.

Bill Shorten’s pre-election promise of 20 new MRI machines comes after the Auditor-General found Labor bungled a similar expansion in government with “long-term implications for the commonwealth budget”.

The Opposition Leader used his budget reply speech to promise the 20 extra machines for hospitals and imaging centres in ­regional areas and the outer suburbs — “all covered by Medicare” — at a cost of $80 million.

“For too many people outside big cities, either their hospital does not have an MRI machine or it’s not covered by Medicare,” Mr Shorten said.

The Australian National Audit Office was critical of an MRI package introduced by Labor in 2011. While the reforms brought some improvements in patient ­access, almost three times more machines were approved in the first three years than originally anticipated, doubling the budget estimate of $94.5 million. And a promised crackdown on inappropriate scans, intended to offset the initial budget estimates, did not eventuate.

“As a consequence, the cost impact of MRI expansion has been significantly greater than advised to government, with long-term implications for the budget,” the ANAO reported in 2014-15.

More recently, the need for better regulation and clearer criteria for new Medicare-funded MRI ­licences, has been overshadowed by the ongoing freeze on rebates.

A Deloitte Access Economics report to the government last year suggested the private sector was struggling because of the rebate freeze and patients would likely suffer as a result. There were mixed views on whether increasing the number of Medicare-­funded machines would help, however, with the report noting that part of the pressure on private operators was due to competition from Medicare-funded hospitals.

The Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association has long campaigned for an increase in rebates, as well as a licensing overhaul. President Siavash Es’haghi has welcomed Mr Shorten’s promise of more machines, despite the ADIA’s budget submission saying new criteria for the assessment process was needed first.

“If Labor is truly committed to Medicare, it needs to announce it will end the 20-year freeze on ­patient rebates for vital X-rays and scans,” Dr Es’haghi said.

Mr Shorten and Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King have yet to detail their Medicare package but said the location of the first 10 machines would be based on evidence to a Senate committee. The committee did not recommend any specific increase in machines, let alone suggest the locations, instead calling on the government to provide “clear, objective and transparent assessment criteria”.