Health Minister Mark Butler’s plans to rein in spending on the $220 billion care sector are coming under attack, as state premiers take Labor to task over hospital funding and disability reform. Source: The Age.
Meanwhile, the Coalition and Greens are demanding more funding to address waitlist blowouts in aged care.
State and territory chiefs yesterday accused the Albanese Government of short-changing Australians tens of billions of dollars in health negotiations, and warned the gap would jeopardise hospital services while leaving the states worse off under plans to take pressure off the NDIS.
The same day, a Senate inquiry into Labor’s aged care plans told the Government it must uncap the delivery of home care packages to older Australians and move to a demand-driven system like the NDIS, to stop a situation where 230,000 elderly people are now waiting for help at home.
Health, aged care and the NDIS have become three of the Albanese Government’s fastest-growing budget pressures as an ageing population, rising care costs and workforce challenges put increasing demands on government spending.
Combined, they will make up more than a quarter of the federal Budget next year and cost $250 billion by the next election.
Mr Butler signalled soon after this year’s election that he would make difficult political calls to control spending, revealing plans to further curb NDIS growth.
But Labor’s 94-seat majority is not enough to guarantee a smooth path: the Coalition and Greens combined forces last month to make the Government fast-track aged care packages, while the states have shown they can use their collective clout to stall movement on disability reforms.
The Coalition, Greens and independent Senator David Pocock warned that federal aged care services were also lacking under a system that caps the number of home care packages that can be delivered at one time.
There were 108,924 people waiting to receive their package in July this year, and 121,596 waiting for an assessment.
The senators last month teamed up to make Labor expedite 20,000 home care packages but they went further in a report published on Wednesday, saying the Government should work towards uncapping the number of packages.
Government senators rejected the recommendation, saying they took on board the department’s evidence that the system could not cope with uncapped numbers of health care packages “without unintended consequences”.
FULL STORY
Butler’s three-cornered battle with states and senators over billions for hospitals, disability and aged care (By Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age)
