Editing Medicare (Australia) (section)

===Medibank (1975–1976)===
The [[Whitlam government]], elected in 1972, sought to put an end to the three-tier system by extending healthcare coverage to the entire population.<ref>''Understanding the Australian Health Care System'' by Eileen Willis, Louise Reynolds, and Keleher Helen.</ref> Before the Labor Party came to office, [[Bill Hayden]], the Minister for Social Security, took the main responsibility for developing the preliminary plans to establish a universal health scheme.

According to a speech to Parliament on 29 November 1973 by Mr Hayden, the purpose of Medibank was to establish the "most equitable and efficient means of providing health insurance coverage for all Australians."<ref>{{cite web |title=ParlInfo – HEALTH INSURANCE BILL 1973: Second Reading |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22hansard80%2Fhansardr80%2F1973-11-29%2F0071%22 |website=parlinfo.aph.gov.au |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=10 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710000453/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22hansard80%2Fhansardr80%2F1973-11-29%2F0071%22 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Medibank legislation was one of the bills which led to a [[double dissolution]] on 11 April 1974, and was later passed by a [[Joint Sitting of the Australian Parliament of 1974|joint sitting]] on 7 August 1974. Parliamentarians planned for Medicare to be funded by a 1.35% income tax (exempting people on a low income). However, this was rejected by the Senate, so it was instead funded from consolidated revenue.<ref name="Biggs APH brief">{{Cite web|last=Biggs|first=Amanda|date=29 October 2004|title=Medicare – Background brief|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/medicare|access-date=23 November 2020|website=[[Australian Parliament House]] Parliamentary Library|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922141123/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/medicare|url-status=live}}</ref>

Medibank started on 1 July 1975.<ref name="Biggs APH brief" /> In nine months, the [[Health Insurance Commission]] (HIC) had increased its staff from 22 to 3500, opened 81 offices, installed 31 minicomputers, 633 terminals and 10 medium-sized computers linked by land-lines to the central computer, and issued registered health insurance cards to 90% of the Australian population.