In the 2013–14 federal budget, the Labor party introduced a freeze on the Medicare Benefits Schedule's indexation which aimed to continually align the amount covered by Medicare with the realistic costs of the service. Originally intended to only last a year until July 2014, the newly-elected Abbott Coalition government reimposed the freeze through 201415. Successive Coalition governments continued indexation freezes until July 2020. Between 2013 and 2020, the indexation freeze reduced the cost of the Medicare scheme by a total of $3.9 billion.