Labor Faces Tough Questions Over $5,000 Veteran Healthcare Limit

An Australian war veteran wears his medals, including a service medal from the Vietnam war (Far-L), at the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service in Sydney on Aug. 18, 2016. PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

Labor Senator Penny Wong faced tough questions over the government’s decision to enact a $5,000 threshold on the value of allied health services for Australian veterans.

The changes, which are slated for 2027, means the government will support up to $5,000 of allied healthcare for former servicemen, and anything above will require a formal approval process. This will likely effect 25,000 veterans.

The cap is being introduced amid fears of veterans abusing the system, and also to try free up the current treatment waiting list.

Some veterans are exempt, including those who are disabled or incapacitated.

On Sept. 8, centre-right Liberal Senator Dave Sharma probed Labor’s Leader of the Senate Penny Wong over who the government consulted regarding the changes.

Wong said the government had responded to some concerns.

“I want to say that the concerns have been clearly raised by veterans’ groups. This is something the government takes very seriously, and indicate the government is taking feedback on board,” the foreign minister said.

“I think I indicated that [Veterans’ Affairs] Minister [Matt] Keogh started formal consultations last week, following the release of the consultation paper, and I can also say that I know that the prime minister yesterday engaged with a group of veterans as requested by them,” Wong told the Senate.

But Sharma pressed Wong to describe the specific concerns raised by veterans.

“I think they have been ventilated here and also in in the public statements and obviously what was regarded as a concern was what was regarded as a $5,000 limit,” Wong said.

Sharma asked the government to scrap the cap.

“Minister, veterans served this country when Australia asked them to,” he said.

“Some came home carrying injuries they will live with for the rest of their lives. They are now pleading with your government not to make their healthcare harder to access.”

Wong said the Returned Serviceman’s League (RSL) and nine other veterans’ groups acknowledged the government’s work.

“I again, indicate what I’ve said to this chamber that it has been clear that if there remains a clinical need, support and services beyond the $5,000 threshold would be continued,” she said.

On Sept. 7, RSL Australia outlined some of the concessions the government had made including the exemption for vulnerable veterans, that a veteran’s GP is responsible for care, that treatment continues while a review is underway, and that checks will not focus on fraudulent behaviour overall, but treatment.

Meanwhile, Sharma’s questioning follows an earlier round of queries in the House of Representatives on Aug. 20, where Nationals MP Michael McCormack asked Minister Keogh to name any veterans’ groups who supported the changes.

Minister Keogh did not provide a specific answer to McCormack’s question.