Medicare levy passes the House of Representatives

Legislation that provides for a half a percentage point increase in the Medicare levy to help fund DisabilityCare Australia has passed the House of Representatives tonight.

The legislation will increase the Medicare levy from 1.5 to 2 per cent of taxable income from 1 July 2014, with every cent raised to be put towards funding DisabilityCare Australia.

DisabilityCare Australia will give people with disability, their families and carers the care and support they need over their lifetimes, and choice and control over the services they receive.

DisabilityCare will end the cruel lottery that currently exists, where the care and support a person receives depends on where they live and how they acquired their disability.

It is the most fundamental social policy reform since the introduction of Medicare.

When the full scheme is rolled out nationally in 2019-20 around 460,000 Australians with significant and permanent disability will get the support they deserve.

DisabilityCare Australia requires a strong and stable funding stream to provide Australians with a disability, their families and their carers with the certainty they deserve – so they can have confidence that this vital reform will be locked in place.

Yesterday’s Budget invested $14.3 billion over seven years to roll out DisabilityCare Australia across the country. This unprecedented long term funding security will provide people with significant and permanent disability, their families and carers the certainty they deserve.

The legislation also establishes the DisabilityCare Australia Fund in which the additional Medicare levy proceeds will be invested. The DisabilityCare Australia Fund will be managed by the Future Fund Board of Guardians, so that funding can only be used to meet the costs of delivering DisabilityCare Australia.