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.
Deputy Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet appointed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to wind up the botched program recently 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.
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