Mark Butler says negotiations on a new national partnership agreement for hospitals would begin in 2023
Butler said he was urgently reviewing options to extend Covid-19 telehealth services before funding expires next week.of a cost-sharing deal for Covid-related hospital spending. But the states were pushing for the government to increase its current 45% share of ongoing costs to a 50-50 split as part of an overhaul of the health system.
“We recognise there are pressures on hospitals and there are things that we should do now to relieve those pressures in primary care and aged care. But very much our position is that agreements that we inherit from a former government by and large are agreements that will continue.” The Davis review of the health system comes as states and territories warn of unprecedented pressure on hospitals, with the impact of Covid compounding existing structural problems in the system.Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
“We fund and largely regulate and support general practice, the same in aged care, and when those systems break down, the lightning rod ends up in the emergency department of the local hospital.”In the lead-up to the election, Labor promised $750m for a “strengthening Medicare” taskforce and fund, which Butler said would report by the end of the year to determine priority areas for spending, along with $135m for 50 urgent care clinics and $200m for GP grants.
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