Medicare the winner as parties match funding pledges

"By absolutely every measure, the Albanese government has failed Australians on health," Senator Ruston said on Sunday.

"Every Australian knows that it's harder and more expensive to see a GP."

The opposition called on Labor to match its commitment to mental health support.

Senator Ruston said the coalition wouldn't stand in the way of Labor's $8.5 billion promise to boost health funding, which she described as a clean-up on a "mess" they created.

While the cost of living is the most pressing issue for voters, health care is also highly ranked as a priority.

In a speech in Launceston on Sunday, Anthony Albanese unveiled Labor's centrepiece election promise for the unprecedented expansion of Medicare.

The prime minister said his government wants nine out of 10 visits to the GP to be free by the end of the decade.

"That's an ambitious goal but people deserve ambition from their government on Medicare," he said.

"Because just as every Australian wants the best possible health care for their family, our government wants the best possible health care for every Australian."

Mr Albanese said Labor wanted to deliver on the "true promise and purpose" of Medicare.

"If the Australian people entrust our Labor government with a second term, a single, straightforward objective will be the foundation of our health policy," he said.

A federal election is due by May 17.

Fewer GP clinics have been taking on bulk-billed patients as they struggle to keep up with rising operational costs and increasing service complexity.

Australian Medical Association president Danielle McMullen said in some parts of the nation there would be a shift in the rates of no out-of-pocket consultations, while other parts would see no difference.

"I do hope this will make a difference in rural and regional communities and in our areas of socio-economic disadvantage, where GP's have been really trying as hard as they can to keep those costs down," she said.

Mr Albanese said every GP practice would be offered a new incentive payment to bulk bill.

This would provide about 4800 practices across Australia with the security they needed to bulk-bill every visit, he said.

A GP training program, which would start next year, would be the biggest in Australian history and deliver another 2000 new GPs annually.

Under the health care commitment, 400 new scholarships for nurses and midwives would be created.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the modelling done on the policy showed there would be 20 million additional free visits to the doctor.

Australia's bulk-billing rate plummeted to 20.7 per cent at the start of 2025, down from 35.7 per cent two years earlier, according to data released by health care directory Cleanbill in January.

Royal Australian College of GPs president Michael Wright backed Labor's workforce commitment but warned not everyone would be bulk billed as patient rebates were still too low to cover the cost of care.

The funding announcement from the coalition follows a prolonged attack by Labor on Mr Dutton's track record as a health minister, which Mr Butler described as "bloody terrifying".