You've probably been hearing a lot about changes to Medicare and what they could mean for bulk-billing, blood tests and X-rays this election campaign.

But are these changes a reality or are some of them just a scare campaign?

Hack breaks down the different parties' policies to help you make an informed decision on health at the ballot box.

What about that $7 GP co-payment & what's a 'rebate freeze'?

Back in 2014, as part of Tony Abbott's government, then treasurer Joe Hockey announced a $7 Medicare co-payment, as a way of keeping ballooning health costs under wraps.

The move was instantly criticised by doctors' groups and became one of the least popular measures in the 2014 budget.

When the Abbott Government later scrapped it, they instead brought in a four-year freeze on the indexation of the Medicare rebate paid to GPs - which is a fancy way of saying the amount paid to doctors from Medicare does not increase with inflation each year.

Earlier this year the Turnbull Government announced the freeze would be extended until at least 2020, saying it would save $925 million.

But GPs said their practices had mostly been absorbing the cost of the freeze to this point, and if it continued services would be affected.

They warned changes could include charging patients more to fill the gap or choosing to bulk-bill fewer people.

The Australian Medical Association accused the Coalition of "shifting its responsibility" as a healthcare provider "back to the hip pocket of patients".

Labor also criticised the rebate freeze, calling it a "GP tax by stealth".

If elected, Labor promised to end the freeze and restore indexation from January 2017, estimated to cost $12.2 billion over a decade.

The Greens say they have been against the rebate freeze since the start.

Cost of x-rays and blood tests

In a bid to help the budget bottom line, the Turnbull Government announced they would scrap bulk-billing incentives for scans and pathology from July 1, saving $884 million over four years.

Doctors in pathology and diagnostics already receive regular bulk-billing payments (started by the Labor government) so these incentives to increase the rate of bulk-billing are on top of that money.

Health Minister Sussan Ley said incentives are paid direct to the healthcare provider, not the patient, and are not achieving the desired result.

"The bulk billing incentive has cost taxpayers $1.3 billion over five years, yet again has clearly failed to improve bulk-billing rates beyond natural growth," she told ABC News.

But Labor strongly opposes getting rid of the incentive and has vowed to reverse the changes if elected.

They say removing the incentive will have a bad outcome for patients who could be forced to pay more for tests and scans, or skip them altogether, which could result in them getting sicker.

Meanwhile, radiologists have accused both sides of politics of ignoring a looming health emergency that exists even before the Coalition’s plan to cut incentive payments. They say patients are already having to fork out an average of $100 to cover the gap from Medicare for scans such as X-rays, ultrasounds, CTs and MRIs.

In May, the Government and Pathology Australia reached an agreement that clinics would continue bulk-billing in return for the Government helping lower their rents.

Coalition would 'never ever' privatise Medicare

Since 2014, the Coalition Government has been considering privatising a bunch of government payment systems, including Medicare, as a way of saving money.

While the Coalition had only flagged outsourcing Medicare’s payment system, Labor seized on the idea claiming it was evidence the Government was planning to privatise the whole Medicare system.

As a result, Malcolm Turnbull axed the idea on Saturday and stated categorically that Medicare would "never ever" be privatised under his government.

Labor leader Bill Shorten denied his party was running a scare campaign.

Malcolm Turnbull labeled the campaign "disgraceful", but Bill Shorten told the ABC's 4 Corners that his party had "caught the Government out".