“Labor’s Medicare urgent-care clinics will mean more families will get top-quality care from a nurse or a doctor without having to wait in a hospital emergency department,” Albanese said. “These clinics are a key part of Labor’s plan to strengthen Medicare.”
Asked about Labor’s approach to hospital funding,a campaign spokesperson said:“Instead of constantly trying to pick a fight with the states,we’ll work with them to keep our hospitals safe and strong.”
The federal government,which pays half of COVID-19 state health costs under a temporary arrangement,has resisted states’ demands to lift its wider hospital funding.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Greg Hunt said funding to state public hospitals had doubled under the Coalition,compared with an increase of just 44 per cent by the states themselves.
“As outlined in the 2022-23 budget,the Morrison government will invest more than $149 billion in public hospitals. Labor has no plan for our hospitals or our nation’s health,” they said.
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As well as emergency room pressures,hospitals are battling rising overall costs of treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic due in part to infection control measures and extra staffing. These costs are expected to increase further as patients present with cancers and other conditions that were diagnosed late.
Without the injection of federal cash,rising costs,including from pandemic catch-up surgeries,have put the states on track to hit the 6.5 per cent cap for the first time since it was introduced by the Turnbull government in 2017.
This would allow the Commonwealth to claw back hospital funding provided in 2022-23 when it is calculated for the following year by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority,former Health Department secretary Stephen Duckett said.
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Victoria is most at risk of breaching the cap due to a high number of elective surgery cancellations during its extended COVID-19 lockdowns.
Foley said the nation’s health systems “are under extreme pressure and the current funding arrangement with the Commonwealth where the states pay more,is unfair and unsustainable”.
“We need a fit-for-purpose funding model that reflects a 50:50 cost-sharing arrangement between the Commonwealth and states,so we can provide the services and care that Victorians need,” he said.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said state and territory health ministers had written to Hunt several times asking him to work with them on issues they considered Commonwealth responsibilities or where they could act jointly.
“[We] have been under strain for some time due to the pandemic and the trend of increasing hospital activity,” Stephen-Smith said.
“Additional infection control procedures,PCR testing and maintenance of bed capacity to respond to fluctuating demand and COVID-19 surge response have all contributed to a rapid increase in service delivery costs.
“The national funding model will take several years for these costs to be reflected in the National Efficient Price (NEP) for activity,creating risks around sustaining services until then.”
Jacqueline Maley cuts through the noise of the federal election campaign with news,views and expert analysis. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletterhere.