LABOR TO DELIVER MEDICARE-FUNDED MRI SCANS

Families in Perth’s eastern suburbs will benefit from affordable access to life-saving medical scans with a Shorten Labor Government.

 

Labor will deliver a Medicare-funded MRI licence to St John of God Midland Hospital, so thousands of locals can access the medical scans they need close to home without being hit with high out-of-pocket costs.

 

Currently, there are no fully-licenced MRI machines in the suburbs east of Perth, even though it is an area of rapid population growth with many young families.

 

At the moment, families either have to pay up to $400 for an MRI scan close to home, or make a round trip journey of at least an hour to get a scan that is subsidised by Medicare.

 

The average wait for an MRI in the Perth North Primary Health Network is 30 days – the third longest wait time in Australia.

 

A Medicare-funded MRI licence will help families in the Midland area as well as the growing eastern suburbs and surrounding regions.

 

MRI scans are used to detect and diagnose conditions that affect soft tissue – including tumours and cancer – and are critical in the early detection of many diseases.

 

They are particularly important for children and young people because unlike the alternative – CT scans – MRIs do not use ionising radiation. Children’s Healthcare Australasia says that for every 1,000 CT scans, a new case of cancer is created in an Australian child.

 

Labor believes it should be your Medicare card, not your credit card, which determines your access to great healthcare in Australia.

 

When he was Treasurer, Scott Morrison cut $700 million from Australia’s hospitals while trying to give a tax handout to the banks.

 

Scott Morrison and the Liberals are only for the top end of town.

 

Labor will deliver a fair go for Australia. A fair go means reversing Scott Morrison’s cuts to public hospitals.

 

The Liberals have completely neglected MRI scans, granting only five MRI licences during five years in office – and the latest only as a result of a dodgy deal with One Nation in Western Australia.

 

In contrast, Labor granted 238 licences when we were in office, with hundreds of communities benefiting from the early detection and diagnosis of disease today because of Labor’s investment.

 

Labor will deliver another 20 licences across the country if we win the next election.

 

Only Bill’s Shorten’s stable and united team can be trusted on health care. Labor is prioritising Australia’s health care and hospitals – we will reverse the Liberals' hospital cuts and provide a desperately needed MRI licence to Midland.