The Australian Greens have announced today they will oppose the Extended Medicare Safety Net (EMSN) legislation in the Senate.

"We believe there are fundamental flaws in the way health care is funded in Australia and are particularly concerned by the way this system encourages excessive out of pocket expenses, " said Senator Siewert.

"The EMSN advantages those who can afford the upfront fees, and encourages specialists to raise their fees. It is an inflationary measure that does nothing to restore equity of health care for those most in need."

"The Government amendments simply using the patient to pressure specialists to reduce their fees - which is unfair to the patients, and ultimately likely to prove ineffective in reducing the burden of unnecessary costs on the public purse," she said.

"While the Greens understand the intent of the proposed changes is to reduce the costs to the public purse, we are not convinced that the government's approach will be effective."

"This legislation is a half-way house - it only addresses part of the problem and will introduce another set of inequities," said Senator Siewert.

"Meanwhile it diverts us from tackling the real issue - the $15 Billion-a-year run-away cost of out of pocket expenses."

"We have told the Government that they have to tackle the real problem head on," she concluded.