Kevin Rudd Announces Hospital Plan
Kevin Rudd Announces Hospital Plan – The Rudd government has finally announced its plan to fix Australia’s public hospitals, with a $30.9 billion funding takeover as its centrepiece.
The giant health and hospital reform program would result in the Commonwealth funding up to 60 per cent of all services, infrastructure and research costs in public hospitals.
New “Local Hospital Networks” would pay for services, replacing the traditional model of Commonwealth grants to the states and territories.
The government would also establish an independent authority to calculate the amount hospitals are paid for each service they provide.
In a press release, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Health Minister Nicola Roxon called the reforms “the biggest changes to Australia’s health and hospital system since the introduction of Medicare, and one of the most significant reforms to the federation in its history”.
The government will fund the reforms by redirecting one-third of the GST revenue currently paid directly to the states and territories, to health and hospitals.
State and territory leaders have already suggested they might fight the move.
However, Mr Rudd promised at a press conference in Canberra today that they wouldn’t get a raw deal.
“Under these reforms, no state or territory will be worse off over the forward estimates and all will be better off in the medium term,” he said.
Kevin Rudd Announces Hospital Plan
Tags: Canberra, Centrepiece, Commonwealth Grants, Forward Estimates, Gst Revenue, Health Minister, Hospital Networks, Independent Authority, kevin rudd, Local Hospital, Medium Term, Nicola Roxon, Public Hospitals, Raw Deal, Services Infrastructure, Takeover, Territory Leaders, Traditional Model, Treasurer Wayne, Wayne Swan
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