NSW patients utilising ACT hospitals for healthcare havecaused territory health spending to continue to rise, leading the ACT Health Minister to call once again for the territory to be paid according to its role as healthcare provider for the region.
Between 2007 and 2013, ACT government spending on hospitals rose by 4.9 per cent per person, the highest of any jurisdiction in Australia and 2 per cent above the national average.
ACT Health Minister Simon Corbell says steps have been taken to bring the budget under control, but the federal government had yet to recognise the ACT’s special status as a provider for a larger region.
Over the same period, federal funding for ACT hospitals grew by just 0.3 per cent, the third lowest nationally. and private funding grew at exactly half the Australian average.
Additionally, private funding of public hospital procedures in the ACT plunged by 22 per cent.
In the meantime, the ACT government continued to provide healthcare for the southern NSW region with up to 50 per cent of some surgical procedures undertaken for people from outside the territory.
Last April, then-health minister Katy Gallagher said the ACT’s health spending was growing at an unsustainable rate and needed to be reined in.
Incumbent Health Minister Simon Corbell said steps had been taken to bring the budget under control, but the federal government had yet to recognise the ACT’s special status as a provider for a larger region.
“We have repeatedly made representations to the federal government seeking additional support above the national funding formula because of the ACT’s role as a small jurisdiction’s support a larger, cross-border region,” he said.
Mr Corbell said 30 per cent of elective surgery patients and 30 per cent of all emergency surgeries were for patients from NSW and 11 per cent of all emergency department presentations.
“Unfortunately to date under the current national health agreements they haven’t agreed to recognise these significant [issues], and this is on top of the cuts they’ve put in at the last budget where they substantially reduced funding for health services,” he said.
Mr Corbell said the government had been focusing on constraining health spending, rather than reducing it, and was close to their target of 5 per cent spending growth.
ACT Medicare local chair Martin Liedvogel said by investment in primary healthcare could prevent people with chronicor lifestyle diseases from reaching a critical point.
“Then you’ll need less hospital admissions and you’ll cut down on your hospital budget, which seems to be a major part of the health budget,” he said.
Healthcare Consumers’ Association executive director Darlene Cox said while increasing focus on primary healthcare was important, the ACT government should also consider incentives for people to use their private health insurance.
Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said the Commonwealth paid the ACT government for the number of patients it treated, no matter where they lived, and any shortfall was a matter to be discussed with the NSW government.