Statement 1: Budget Overview (Continued)
Investing in key health services
In August 2011, the Commonwealth and all States and Territories signed the historic $16.4 billion National Health Reform Agreement. This historic deal delivers funding certainty for hospitals with the Commonwealth guaranteeing 50 per cent of growth funding for hospitals. This funding is scaled up over time starting at 45 per cent in 2014‑15 and moving to 50 per cent in 2017‑18. These reforms are critical to ensuring Australia's hospitals have the funding certainty they need into the future.
In addition, last year's Budget announced $2.2 billion in funding for mental health reform across Australia.
Building on this investment, this Budget delivers key funding for dental health, provides access to new medicines and delivers on the Government's regional health infrastructure commitments.
Delivering additional dental services
The Government is investing $515.3 million over four years in dental services to provide better access to dental care for those in need. This dental health package builds on commitments made in the 2011‑12 Budget.
Dental health is an important part of general health but the treatment Australians receive varies across the population according to income. For some, the cost of dental treatment or long wait times for public dental services mean those on low incomes do not get dental care when they need it.
In this Budget, the Government is improving access to dental services and strengthening the future dental workforce by providing:
- $345.9 million over three years in funding to the States and Territories to provide treatment for those on public dental waiting lists including ensuring support for Indigenous Australians;
- $35.7 million over three years to expand the successful dentists' graduate program;
- a $45.2 million investment over four years in oral health therapists to boost capacity in the public sector and in areas of need;
- $77.7 million over four years to encourage dentists to relocate to regional, rural and remote areas and set up practices; and
- $10.5 million over three years for national oral health promotion activities.
In addition, funding will be provided to support the delivery of pro bono dental services for the most disadvantaged in our community.
The Government will redirect currently unallocated Commonwealth Dental Health Program funding towards this Budget's dental health package. This funding was intended to replace the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme (CDDS) but has been redirected to boost dental services before the CDDS is closed and any new scheme commences. It still remains Government policy to close the CDDS.
Expanding hospitals and health services for regional Australia
The Government is investing $475 million to support the development of regional health infrastructure. This delivers on the Government's $1.8 billion commitment to the Health and Hospitals Fund (HHF) Regional Priority Round.
This latest HHF round will fund 76 new projects across Australia. The funding will support upgrades to regional health infrastructure, expand regional hospitals, and support the clinical training capacity of regional hospitals into the future.
This investment will help improve the provision of health care in regional Australia and brings the total commitment in health and hospitals infrastructure under the HHF to $5.0 billion since 2009‑10, across a total of 224 projects around Australia.
Further improving health services
This Budget makes important investments in Australia's health system to improve health services for all Australians. Key investments include:
- $49.7 million over four years to expand the bowel cancer screening program to phase in increased frequency of bowel cancer screening over time to all Australians aged between 50 and 74 years. When fully implemented, this program is expected to help detect around 12,000 cancers and adenomas each year and significantly reduce deaths from colorectal cancer;
- an additional $233.7 million to progress the national e‑Health agenda, including to enable the operation of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) system. This builds on the Government's $466.7 million investment from the 2010‑11 Budget to establish the key components of the PCEHR system; and
- $49.3 million to ensure the National Medical Stockpile (NMS) is well placed for use in response to any emergency situation. The NMS supplements existing medical stocks held in the Australian hospital system and by states and territories.
In addition, since MYEFO, the Government has approved new listings or amendments to listings listed on the PBS, resulting in an overall saving of around $32.5 million.
The total number of new medicines or brands of medicines approved by the Government for the PBS, Life Saving Drugs Program, and National Immunisation Program over the last four years is approximately 700, at a cost of around $4.5 billion.
Improving the sustainability of the Health Budget
As part of the Government's commitment to responsible economic management, the Government has reprioritised health expenditure to ensure the funding is appropriately targeted to where it is most needed. This builds on past measures to ensure a sustainable health system, including the means testing of the private health insurance rebate, which will commence on 1 July 2012. These include:
- savings of around $163.5 million have been made to the PBS, arising from more competitively priced medicines, including the angiotensin II receptor antagonist therapeutic group and new indications for a number of medicines including dasatinib (Sprycel®), niliotinib (Tasigna®), and tocilizumab (Actemra®), as they can be used in place of more expensive medicines;
- making changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule safety net including by reducing opportunities for practitioners to charge excessive fees. This will provide savings of $96.5 million over four years; and
- more effective targeting of the Practice Incentives Program worth $83.5 million over four years by ceasing the General Practice Immunisation Incentive, revising the e‑Health Incentive eligibility requirements and increasing selected outcomes targets.
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