Residents of the North West and West Coasts will have increased access to Medicare support, with a Shorten Labor Government to fund 20 support staff dedicated to Medicare claims assistance.
With health costs soaring under the Liberals, delays and issues processing Medicare payments can be the final straw when it comes to the household budget. Families shouldn’t have to delay paying bills while they wait for money to hit their account.
Delays and issues with processing impact hardest on those who rely on Medicare the most - older Australians, people with chronic illnesses or those with high medical bills.
That’s why Labor will establish an additional 20 Medicare workers in northern Tasmania, to ensure people in Braddon can access the Medicare support they need.
At the moment when calling Centrelink for assistance, people are more likely to have their call abandoned or hit a busy signal than they are to have their call answered.
And in the past 12 months, older Australians have seen their call wait times increase by more than 22%.
There’s nothing more important than your health – and that’s why Labor is investing more in Medicare support, more in local hospitals, and more in specialists for Braddon.
These 20 dedicated Medicare staff are part of the 50 additional staff Labor will fund at the Burnie and Devonport Centrelink services, injecting $3.6 million into the local economy.
The truth is Centrelink is in crisis under the Turnbull Government. It's under staffed and under resourced, and this is having an impact on the processing of complex Medicare claims.
And still – the Turnbull Government is cutting even further. In this year’s budget, the Turnbull Government announced it would cut 1,280 jobs from Centrelink, and has outsourced a further 1,250 jobs to labour hire. The Government is privatising Centrelink by stealth.
Mr Turnbull and Brett Whiteley are former bankers more interested in giving the big banks a $17 billion tax handout than fighting for services that our communities rely on. Brett Whiteley is doing nothing to fight against Turnbull’s cuts to Medicare and Centrelink support that will see people living in Braddon wait longer for assistance.
Only Bill Shorten and Justine Keay are fighting for a fair go for the North-West and West Coasts. Labor will invest more in health and essential services for Braddon, we will reverse Turnbull’s cut to the pension, and we can pay for it because we aren’t giving a $17 billion handout to the big banks.
This Saturday there is a clear choice between voting for Brett Whiteley and giving $17 billion to the big banks or voting for Justine Keay to properly fund our hospitals.
