Lambie launches furious attack on government over plan to cap veterans’ health spending

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has launched a scathing attack against the federal government’s plan to cap allied health spending for veterans at $5000 a year, warning the contentious measure could cost lives.

The former Australian Army corporal used a fiery speech to accuse the Albanese government of a “callous disregard for veterans’ health and wellbeing” and plead for the cap to be scrapped.

The federal government announced the cap in May as part of a package aimed at reining in rising veterans’ health costs and tackling what ministers say is excessive charging by some providers.

Lambie’s intervention came as veterans’ groups stepped up pressure on Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh over the policy. Advocacy groups have questioned how the exemption – which comes into place from next July – will work, who will assess claims and what will constitute a “valid clinical need”.

“What you need just to ask yourself is how many veterans’ lives will this cost?” Lambie said in the Senate on Wednesday. “It is not worth a veteran’s life. I am begging you, scrap the cap.”

Labor says veterans with a valid clinical need will be able to access funding above the $5000 threshold and has committed almost $170 million to increasing fees for allied health providers.

But Lambie said the cap was directly at odds with the findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which identified timely, accessible and ongoing healthcare as critical to reducing the risk of suicide.

“And for the 7 per cent of us veterans like me that have ongoing chronic issues from our service, this is a hammer blow,” she said.

The Tasmanian senator questioned why the government was targeting a group representing less than 1 per cent of veterans, citing figures that Department of Veterans’ Affairs supported more than 357,000 veterans, with about 3000 receiving allied health services costing more than $15,000 a year.

She also attacked the department over delays in processing claims and paying medical providers.

Lambie said she knew of at least five doctors who had stopped treating veterans in the previous month because they could no longer afford to do so, with others warning they were close to leaving the system.

The RSL has also pressed the government for more detail about the cap and called for a broader review of DVA fee schedules for GPs and specialists.

The dispute has become increasingly acrimonious following a meeting between Keogh and veterans on Monday. Keogh had initially declined a request to meet the group campaigning against the cap before agreeing to sit down with them after political pressure mounted.

Former pilot Tim Nelson accused the minister of sitting with his arms crossed and rolling his eyes during the meeting. Keogh denied the allegation and said he shook the veterans’ hands at the conclusion of the discussion.