❓ Mr L'Estrange questions the Minister for Health about a decrease in activity-based funding to public hospitals despite increasing pressures on emergency services and elective surgery waitlists. The Minister attributes the decrease to a funding dispute with the federal government over activity-based funding calculations and commitments.
AnsweredQoN 917Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC HOSPITALS —
ACTIVITY-BASED FUNDING
917. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the ''Administrator
National Health Funding Pool Annual Report 2017–18'', tabled
today—he will have seen it. Can the Minister for Health explain why,
when we see ambulance ramping increasing, emergency department wait times
blowing out and elective surgery waitlists surging, that activity-based funding
from his government to public hospitals decreased from $2.22 billion in 2017 to
$1.92 billion in 2018, a cut of 13.5 per cent?
ACTIVITY-BASED FUNDING
917. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the ''Administrator
National Health Funding Pool Annual Report 2017–18'', tabled
today—he will have seen it. Can the Minister for Health explain why,
when we see ambulance ramping increasing, emergency department wait times
blowing out and elective surgery waitlists surging, that activity-based funding
from his government to public hospitals decreased from $2.22 billion in 2017 to
$1.92 billion in 2018, a cut of 13.5 per cent?
AnswerView source ↗
It is of no surprise, or no secret,
that we are in open dispute with the federal government on its funding around activity-based
funding at the moment. The reason for that is that despite the fact that there
was a long-term commitment from the previous Rudd–Gillard government
that the federal government would fund 50 per cent of activity growth, and that
Tony Abbott, prior to the election at which he was elected Prime Minister, said
that he would maintain that funding, it was cut back to 45 per cent of activity
growth. In addition, one of the most astonishing things of all is that the base
on which all this is calculated goes back to the 2015–16 financial year
and there was agreement that this was the previous base for activity-based
funding, but the federal government has come
back and said, ''We've had another look at all the states and
have decided that the base is actually here.'' That means that
despite the fact that there has been activity for which the hospitals around
Australia have been paid in relation to activity-based funding, the federal
government is saying, ''We are now going to take back the funding that
we gave you in 2015–16, the funding we gave you in 2016–17 and
the funding we gave you in 2017–18.'' This is a very invidious
position for all state health jurisdictions to be in. Our state is no orphan in
this. We receive an overall funding hit of about $11 million. I think the
Victorians receive a funding hit of about $200 million. This is something about
which the health ministers have been in debate over the past six or so months
and on which we cannot reach agreement. I notice that the Chief Minister of the
Northern Territory has elevated this dispute between the states and
commonwealth to the Council of Australian Governments chief ministers council
and that we are looking for a speedy recovery. In relation to these numbers, I think
the member for Churchlands will find that these are in hot dispute between us
and the federal government, and that that is the case for every single state
government, including, by the way, both the South Australian and New South
Wales' governments.
that we are in open dispute with the federal government on its funding around activity-based
funding at the moment. The reason for that is that despite the fact that there
was a long-term commitment from the previous Rudd–Gillard government
that the federal government would fund 50 per cent of activity growth, and that
Tony Abbott, prior to the election at which he was elected Prime Minister, said
that he would maintain that funding, it was cut back to 45 per cent of activity
growth. In addition, one of the most astonishing things of all is that the base
on which all this is calculated goes back to the 2015–16 financial year
and there was agreement that this was the previous base for activity-based
funding, but the federal government has come
back and said, ''We've had another look at all the states and
have decided that the base is actually here.'' That means that
despite the fact that there has been activity for which the hospitals around
Australia have been paid in relation to activity-based funding, the federal
government is saying, ''We are now going to take back the funding that
we gave you in 2015–16, the funding we gave you in 2016–17 and
the funding we gave you in 2017–18.'' This is a very invidious
position for all state health jurisdictions to be in. Our state is no orphan in
this. We receive an overall funding hit of about $11 million. I think the
Victorians receive a funding hit of about $200 million. This is something about
which the health ministers have been in debate over the past six or so months
and on which we cannot reach agreement. I notice that the Chief Minister of the
Northern Territory has elevated this dispute between the states and
commonwealth to the Council of Australian Governments chief ministers council
and that we are looking for a speedy recovery. In relation to these numbers, I think
the member for Churchlands will find that these are in hot dispute between us
and the federal government, and that that is the case for every single state
government, including, by the way, both the South Australian and New South
Wales' governments.
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