Medicare Australia has been forced to take on extra staff to cope with a rush of 107,000 home insulation rebate claims, filed during the last days of the Rudd Government’s dumped program.
The claims for the $1200 rebate were filed during the program’s seven-day cut-off period.
If all are approved, the Government will pay out more than $128 million.
The extra workload involved in checking that the claims are legitimate and preventing fraud will put additional pressures on Australia’s taxpayer-funded national health-care system.
Medicare is already under government orders to cut its computer information and processing services by 15 per cent as part of an efficiency dividend administered by the federal budget.
Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the backlog of claims had “obviously put a strain on the payment system”.
“But it is important if further fraudulent conduct is to be prevented … I would make clear that the compliance checking may take some time but I am advised that the department is working hard to process the claims as quickly as possible,” she said.
Earlier this week, Deputy Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet appointed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to wind up the botched program announced 50,000 homes fitted with foil insulation under the scheme would be inspected for fire and electrical safety risks. These homes could have foil insulation ripped out of their ceilings, or safety switches fitted to prevent electrocution as electrical wiring deteriorates with age. Victorian Liberal senator Scott Ryan estimated more than 10 million sqm of insulation foil could be dumped in landfill. During Senate question time, he called for Senator Wong to ensure the foil would be recycled.
Liberal environment spokesman Greg Hunt estimated the cost of safety inspections, removals and refits under the program could be as high as $450 million, The Opposition is also putting pressure on Mr Rudd to reveal details of warnings he received concerning safety issues with the Government’s $2.45 billion home insulation scheme.
Mr Rudd told Parliament he received letters “about compliance issues” on August 14 last year, from Environment Minister Peter Garrett.
He received two further letters from Mr Garrett about emerging problems with the program on August 27 and 28.
Mr Rudd has refused to divulge the contents of the letters, claiming they are protected by cabinet process.