Treasurer Scott Morrison has hinted the government may reverse some of its Medicare savings measures in a bid to ease the cost of health care.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has challenged Mr Morrison to drop all of the government's "Medicare cuts".
Mr Morrison told 2GB radio on Monday the government understood cost of living pressures.
"I know because wage growth's been so modest - that's a pretty generous way to describe it - that people are even more reliant on services such as Medicare than they have been before," Mr Morrison said.
"So that has to be delivered on."
But he said the government had to live within its means and return the budget to balance.
Mr Shorten said you could not merely "tinker" with the system.
"Unless all Medicare cuts are reversed, anything less than that will be betrayal of sick people and Australians," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.
He urged the unfreezing of patient rebates to see a GP, pressure taken off the cost of medicines and a commitment to bulk-billing for X-rays and blood tests.
"Malcolm Turnbull needs to get the message, that all cuts to Medicare must be reversed, in full, on time, on budget night."
