Medicare Provider Numbers and How Private Health Insurers Get Paid Back
Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025
House of Representatives
Senate
Assent
Topics
government oversight health insurance health insurance premiums healthcare medical provider numbers Medicare
Introduced by: The Hon Mark Butler MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Rebecca White ALP
“I move: That the bill be now read a second time. The Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No.1) Bill 2025 makes important changes to legislation within the health portfolio to support our government’s delivery of a stronger Medicare including more bulk-billing and thousands more doctors.”
Angus Taylor LIB
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025.”
Jo Briskey ALP
“I am thrilled to again be contributing in this place on our Labor government’s commitment to Medicare. Medicare and universal access to health care are core to who we are as a Labor government. This legislation, the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025, is another important step in ensuring Medicare remains strong, accessible and ready for the future.”
Sam Birrell NAT
“I too rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025. This bill, like so many other pieces of legislation introduced by the Albanese government, is like a scorpion. You start at the top, and everything is fine.”
Mike Freelander ALP
“The number ’478444X’ probably means nothing to any of you here in this room, but it is very important to me. That was the Medicare provider number that I got when I started my private practice, in the same week that Medicare started, in 1984. It’s the same provider number I use now, to this very day. Before the coalition gets too excited, I don’t use it to bill Medicare.”
Carina Garland ALP
“As we’ve heard from the previous speaker, securing and supporting Medicare’s future is absolutely so important to the Albanese Labor government. We’ve delivered urgent care clinics right across the country, including one in Mount Waverley, in my own electorate.”
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025. When we talk about Medicare, what we know about Medicare is that it is the embodiment of Labor values. It is who we are, and it represents what we care about when it comes to health, which is ensuring that it doesn’t matter what’s in your pay packet.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025, brought forward by the Minister for Health and Ageing, and I commend him for doing so. Health care is fundamental to the wellbeing of Australians, and Medicare is at the heart of our healthcare system.”
Tom French ALP
“When Australians talk about Medicare, they talk about fairness. They talk about the simple, powerful idea that your bank balance should not determine whether or not you can see a doctor. They talk about the dignity of knowing that, when you need care, the system is there for you. Australians are proud of Medicare, a system that Labor built and that Labor continues to defend and strengthen.”
Anne Stanley ALP
“I rise to make my contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025. The bill seeks to accomplish a wide range of outcomes. It supports the automation of Medicare provider numbers. It realigns the registration and claim-processing system for private health insurance rebates.”
Nita Green ALP
“I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted. The speeches read as follows— HEALTH LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES NO. 1) BILL 2025 The Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No.”
Dave Sharma LIB
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025.”
“I am pleased to speak to the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025.”
Dorinda Cox ALP
“I rise today in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025 because this bill strengthens Medicare and modernises our health system and makes it fairer for patients, doctors and communities right across Australia.”
Jenny McAllister ALP
“Given the hour, I don’t intend to go over all of the elements of the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025. I thank very much, though, senators who have made contributions about different aspects of this bill which ranges across quite a broad range of areas in the health system.”