Australian taxpayers subsidise rising specialist fees as spending on Abbott-era Medicare safety net ‘explodes’

Exclusive: Health department data shows spending on the 2004 extended safety net has nearly tripled, from $324.9m in 2010 to $850.4m in 2024

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Taxpayers are increasingly subsiding the rising fees of specialist doctors, as new data shows “explosive” government spending on the Medicare safety net, which has more than doubled in 15 years.

Total Medicare safety net benefits rose from $339m in 2010 to $871.4m in 2024, data requested by Guardian Australia from the federal health department shows, with an Abbott-era expansion causing the biggest blowout in costs while also increasing inequities in the health system.