Labor’s budget reply announced an extra $2.3 billion to cut expenses for cancer patients under Medicare.

The policy will include free medical scans and bulk-billed meetings with specialists over four years.

Cancer patients have called up The Chris Smith Show claiming most of these costs were covered for them by Medicare already.

But Shadow Health Minister Catherine King tells Chris Smith the costs of scans vary across centres.

“People who are dialling in that are saying that have been very, very fortunate.

“The rate of bulk billing for diagnostic imaging is very low and this will increase it, particularly for MRI scans.”

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