Labor vow to end freeze Medicare rebate

The federal opposition has vowed to spend $12-billion over a decade to end the controversial freeze on the Medicare rebate.

MEDICARE Source: AAP

The Australian Medical Association says the freeze on funding the federal government pays to doctors as part of bulk billing services will mean higher fees for patients.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten says Labor's policy is fair and economically sensible.

"This is the sort of announcement, by emphasising fairness, that we drive economic growth in this country because we have a cheaper Medical system than the American model and the consequence of Mr Turnbull undermining bulk-billing, undermining Medicare, is we get on that slippery slope to an Americanised health care system where how much money you have is the determinant of the quality of your health care."

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Labor needs to explain how it will fund its Medicare pledge.

"We are spending more money than ever on health and the most important thing is that Australians know that every dollar we spend is fully funded. We are living within our means. We have increased funding for hospitals by 2.9 billion dollars over the forwards and we have done so while bringing the Budget back into balance. Labor is always talking about spending but how are they going to balance the books? How they going to pay for it?"