Fear is a powerful motivator. It's no wonder political parties use it to influence the outcome of elections.
As doctors, we are no strangers to fear. There is no greater fear than the fear of illness, injury or death for yourself or your loved ones and it is therefore no surprise that health always sparks strong emotions in elections.
I have seen with interest the fears around the privatisation of Medicare. It is interesting it has received so much attention when it seems so far from the main issue. Suffice to say that I have seen how a privatised Medibank Private deals with healthcare and I am not sure it's such a great plan for patients or healthcare. 
The bigger issue for patients is the funding and guiding policies of our health system. Each day, doctors and nurses care for patients through our efficient and effective Medicare system, which has served Australians well..
I am proud of our healthcare system. But I am deeply concerned about its future. It is a future that is dependent on proper funding, but also effective health policy.
I am deeply concerned what the next three years will bring if the last three years is any guide. This term of government has been characterised by the illogical GP co-payment policy, marks I & II, the changes to public hospital funding and the dismantling of almost every federal health policy body.
The gaping hole in public hospital funding of $57 billion over 10 years was only partially filled after intense campaigning. Unfortunately neither side has been able to commit to reinstate the funding, although Labor's commitment over the next four years is $2 billion more than the Coalition's.
For public hospitals, funding was only part of the story. The loss of activity-based funding - a system that aimed to improve public hospital efficiency - then its reinstatement two years later demonstrated the policy-blind approach taken to health.
As part of a COAG expert panel I helped shape policies to improve waiting times for emergency department treatment and elective surgery. The government has abandoned these policies and essentially federal responsibility for public hospital policies.
While the government has wanted to push responsibility back to the states, I fear the consequences for patients, particularly in smaller states and territories. Surely it is the federal government's role to ensure that no matter where you live, you will have access to comparable healthcare; that your postcode won't determine whether you live or die.
The fact that patient Medicare rebates have been frozen for two years and will be frozen for another four years at least should be a major concern for voters on Saturday. That is your rebate after all.
The freeze erodes the value of our Medicare system; like a frog in the boiling pot, the realisation of impending doom is too late. While bulk billing rates have not yet gone down, we need to remember that GPs are only two years into the freeze. If anything this is testament to the commitment of doctors to their patients. But there is a financial cost to practice viability that will see bulk billing rates fall soon.
Labor has committed to lift the Medicare freeze and it is to be commended for it - something that every major medical or patient group has done.
The contempt for pathologists and radiologists has been obvious through both the co-payment debates and the loss of the bulk-billing incentives. These problems are far from solved.
While prevention is held out as the panacea for the health system by some, the lack of commitment to it by this government has never been more obvious. The National Health Prevention Agency was one of the first casualties of the 2014 budget.
I could continue with a long list of agencies and government bodies responsible for health policies that have disappeared.
There has been a lost opportunity for the government to enhance our healthcare system. Health policy was instead handed to the Commission of Audit, who clearly had no comprehension of how our healthcare system worked.
My term as AMA President has ended and I am back to being a neurosurgeon. I am not running for any political party. My reason for commenting is fear. Fear from our health system and our patients.
But it is also from hope, born from a confidence in our world class health system and the importance of standing up to protect it.
Whatever the verdict this weekend, we cannot afford a government that mistakes fiscal shortcuts for health policy. There are real-life consequences for patients and their health. It can cost lives.
Whether you call it a scare campaign will depend on your political bias, but as patients now or in the future, we should all fear for our health system, Medicare and the future health of nation.
Dr Brian Owler is a former Australian Medical Association president.