The 2021 / 2022 Federal Budget announced this week included a record Health investment of $121.4 billion in 2021–22 and $503 billion over the next 4 years.
Full details of budget allowances can be seen in the attached budget stakeholder pack, and include:
Ensuring hospital capacity through COVID-19
- $9.2 billion investment since March 2020
- Ensuring hospital and public health capacity through the National Partnership on COVID-19 Response, which includes the State Health and Hospital 50/50 Sharing Agreement ($4.1 b) and harnessing the private hospital viability guarantee ($1.2 b)
National Health Reform funding
- $135.4 billion over 5 years
- Record level investment in public hospitals, including funding under the 2020–25 National Health Reform Agreement and the National Partnership on COVID-19, with total investment of $135.4 billion over 5 years
- Up from $13.3 b in 2012-13 to $25.6 b in 2021-22 and $29.9 b in 2024-25
Affordable and Sustainable Private Health Insurance (PHI) Reform
- Including improving the PHI prosthesis list, greater rigour to certification for hospital admissions and optimising private hospital default benefit arrangements ($30.6 m)
- Click here to view the Department of Health’s Circular regarding Prosthesis List Reforms
- National Medical Stockpile
- $29.9m investment
- Implementation of phase one of a 2 phased approach to building the long term capability of the National Medical Stockpile ($29.9 m)
$8.7 million over four years from 2021-22 to continue to make PHI simpler and more affordable
- extension of the current policy setting with respect to the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) and PHI Rebate income tiers for a further two years, while a study examines the effectiveness of the current regulatory settings
- specialist modelling and data analytics experts to review and enhance the Government’s PHI Rebate Model
- independent study to investigate private hospital default benefit arrangements
- improvements to the certification process for admitting patients to hospital for procedures normally provided out of hospital.
