Increasing and securing medical research funding for decades to come
Distributions to medical research will be around $1 billion by 2022-23.
This will provide increased and secure medical research funding for decades to come.
The Fund will be the largest of its kind in the world.
Pharmaceuticals
From 1 January 2015 general patients will pay an extra $5.00 towards the cost of each Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) prescription.
Patients with a concession card will pay an extra $0.80 towards the cost of each PBS prescription.
The PBS Safety Net for all patients will be increased from 1 January 2015 — a general patient and their family will now pay an expected $145.30 more to reach the Safety Net after which they can purchase medicines at the concessional rate.
A patient with a concession card and their family will pay an expected $61.80 more to reach the Safety Net after which they can receive free medicines.
Private Health Insurance Rebate and the Medicare Levy Surcharge
From 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2018 the Medicare Levy Surcharge and Private Health Insurance Rebate income thresholds will not be indexed.
Pausing indexation of Medicare rebates
From 1 July 2014 all items listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule, except for GP items, will not be indexed for two years.
Public hospitals
The Government will not proceed with the previous Government's guarantees to increase funding to the States regardless of how many or how few public hospital services are delivered. Reward funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services will also cease. Funding for public hospitals will be indexed to a combination of growth in the Consumer Price Index and population from 2017‑18 onwards.
