The Federal Budget announcements around the health sector is much of what we expect.

Headlining the health allocation is cutting the PBS co-payment from $42.50 to $30.00. This means that for scheduled medicines over $30.00, the general patient will only contribute $30.00, instead of up to $42.50. Prior to the election, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia had been pushing an Affordable Medicines Reform agenda to bring the co-payment down to $19.00.

The Government has continued to expand PBS listings, consistent with previous budgets. The Government will provide $1.4bn over four years for a number of new listings.

Aged care continues to be a focus of the Government. A massive $2.5b has been provided over four years to have a registered nurse onsite 24 hours per day, seven days a week from 1 July 2023 and increasing care minutes to 215 minutes per resident per day from 1 October 2024, including 44 minutes of registered nurse time. Excuse the pun, but the minutia here is incredible and it shows just how important those minutes are when the Government is having to specify how much time is spent on our aged population.

Other major areas of expenditure include –

• $315m over five years to support the First Nations peoples’ health and wellbeing outcomes

• $235m over four years to commence roll-out of urgent care clinics

Whilst the health sector will always be a focus of the Budget, this Budget holds few surprises.

THE PBS CO-PAYMENT

Probably the highlight is the Government’s decision to reduce the PBS co-payment for general patients from $42.50 to $30.00 from 1 January 2023. This will be an obvious hip-pocket saving for those on medicines that currently cost more than $30.00 and less than $42.50. The Government expects this to cost $787m over four years and $233m ongoing.

EXPANDED PBS LISTINGS

As science continues to discover more about our health and how to extend life, the drugs that are available grows rapidly as do the diseases that were once life threatening but are now treatable. The Government will provide $1.4bn over four years from 2022–23 for new and amended listings on the PBS and associated schemes for various disease states.

AGED CARE CONTINUES TO DEMAND

The Government will provide $2.5bn over four years from 2022–23 to improve the quality of care in residential aged care facilities by requiring all facilities to have a registered nurse onsite 24 hours per day, seven days a week from 1 July 2023 and increasing care minutes to 215 minutes per resident per day from 1 October 2024  

The Government will provide $540.3m over four years from 2022–23 to improve the delivery of aged care services and respond to the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES’ CARE

Our First Nations peoples continue to be specifically supported in the health budget with the Government providing $314.8m over five years from 2022–23 to support the Government’s commitment to Closing the Gap for First Nations peoples’ health and wellbeing outcomes. Funding includes $164.3m over four years from 2022–23 to invest in modern health clinics in areas of large and growing First Nations populations, as well as targeted investments to build capacity for chronic disease treatment and rehabilitation.

URGENT CARE CLINICS

The Government will provide $235m over four years from 2022–23 to commence the roll-out of urgent care clinics, including $100m over two years from 2022–23 to co-develop and pilot innovative models with states and territories to improve care pathways and inform program roll-out. The urgent care clinics will reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments and make it easier for Australian families to see a doctor or a nurse when they require urgent but not life-threatening care. All urgent care clinics will be open during extended business hours with no appointments required and will ensure that patients do not have out-of-pocket costs.

You May Also Be Interested In...