Joint Media Release - Fletcher and Ruston - Australians waiting up to three times as long for health claims to be processed under Labor -18 Janurary 2025

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care

Shadow Minister for Sport

Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

Australians waiting up to three times as long for health claims to be processed under Labor

Wait times for Australians trying to access vital health services through Services Australia have blown out dramatically under Labor, with Australians waiting almost three times as long for PBS Patient Refunds to be processed. 

New data obtained by the Opposition through Senate Estimates reveals a massive spike in the time it took for the welfare agency to process key health claims on behalf of the Department of Health and Aged Care during a cost of living crisis.

The below table shows the average number of days to process a key Health claims in 2021-22 and 2023-24 respectively.

Health claim

2021-22

2023-24

PBS Patient Refunds

40

119

PBS Safey Net

34

98

Medicare Entitlement Statement

38

82

Medicare Eligibility & Enrolment

19

49

The new data also shows that more health claims in 2024-24 were completed outside the agency’s own internal timeliness standard than not, with 5,497,477 claims completed on time and 8,228,720 completed after the official deadline. 

In addition, 77 per cent (2,863,478) of all bulk billing claims were completed past their official deadline in 2023-24, the second worst result across Services Australia’s entire health work programme.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston said that this is another example of how Medicare has only been weakened under the Albanese Government, despite all of Labor’s desperate rhetoric. 

“The unaffordability of essential healthcare is continuing to get worse under this government, forcing Australians to delay seeing their GP or getting their scripts refilled because they just cannot afford it,” Senator Ruston said. 

“Now more than ever before, it is critical that the Government ensures Australians can have their Medicare and PBS claims paid on time, but instead they have sent the system backwards.”

Shadow Minister for Government Services Paul Fletcher said the figures show life is harder under the Albanese Labor Government. 

“Bill Shorten is leaving behind a trail of destruction at Services Australia,” Mr Fletcher said.

“After two and half years, Labor have brought this vital agency, which almost every Australian will have cause to contact at some point in their lives, to its knees.”