Shadow Portfolio — 25 March 2026

The Member for Riverina, Mr McCormack, spoke in the second reading debate on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026, signalling the Coalition's support for the legislation while embedding a pointed critique of the government's approach to regional health equity [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s041].

Mr McCormack endorsed both of the bill's central mechanisms: mandatory publication of medical fees and out-of-pocket costs through the Medical Costs Finder, and new ministerial approval requirements for private health insurance premiums covering new products and material changes to existing products. On the premium regulation, he specifically identified the problem the measure addresses — product phoenixing, where an insurer closes an existing product and relaunches a substantially identical one at a higher premium, bypassing approval thresholds.

His stated rationale for Coalition support was direct: improved affordability and accessibility benefit regional communities, making obstruction unjustifiable.

The speech drew heavily on testimony from Associate Professor Kerin Fielding, president of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges, who spoke at a 5 March professionalism framework launch. Mr McCormack used Associate Professor Fielding's data to construct a stark picture of rural health disadvantage: 2.7 doctors per thousand people in rural Australia against 4.3 in cities; preventable hospitalisations 30 per cent higher in outer regional areas and 70 per cent higher in remote communities; and over 800,000 Australians who delayed specialist care last year due to cost [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s041].

Associate Professor Fielding's own position — endorsing the Medical Costs Finder as a trust-building transparency measure while cautioning that transparency alone is insufficient without broader reform including public outpatient investment, updated Medicare rebates, and expanded specialist training — gave Mr McCormack a platform to frame the bill as necessary but not sufficient.

The sharpest attack came at the close of the speech. Mr McCormack accused the government of distributing Medicare urgent care after-hours clinics according to electoral rather than clinical logic — concentrated in Labor-held or Labor-target seats rather than where need is greatest [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s041]. This allegation of politically motivated health resource allocation is the dominant oppositional note of the day's contribution: the Coalition supported the bill's transparency and affordability measures while prosecuting the argument that the government's broader health infrastructure choices advantage marginal-seat politics over genuine need in regional Australia.