SABRA LANE, HOST: The federal government will give a big boost to the states and territories next financial year to help them run public hospitals, because they say it's run out of time to negotiate a new deal with them. The states and territories will receive an extra $1.7 billion for one year only. I spoke with the Health Minister a short time ago. Mark Butler, thanks for joining AM.
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: My pleasure.
LANE: Yesterday, you and the PM argued you'd run out of time to negotiate a new deal. The Tasmanian Premier says negotiations have failed to meet National Cabinet's agreed position of new five-year agreement, which embeds long term, system wide structural health reforms. What are the sticking points?
BUTLER: We're still committed to what Premier Rockliff just outlined, and we're still negotiating with states. There are a couple of things, first, the WA government went into caretaker yesterday. Given that the health deal requires every single jurisdiction to sign on at once, that obviously is a problem for negotiations. But secondly, the Prime Minister made it clear National Cabinet had agreed that new health funding arrangements were tied to the NDIS reform process. And although we're making really good progress on NDIS reform, that's not moving as quickly as frankly would have allowed us to get a health funding deal done in time.
LANE: Well, the government had originally aimed to set out a ten-year “glide path” they’re the words the government used for hospital funding this July. Instead, it's a one-year top up. The Opposition says that is a broken promise. Don't you need to put a deadline in place? Other states are going to be holding elections in the years ahead. When are you going to do this by?
BUTLER: The negotiations will proceed. They're proceeding very well. We've also made very clear that they're tied to satisfactory progress on NDIS reform, which we know is important as well for state and territory governments as it is for the broader community. We want to make sure we're a reliable partner with public hospitals and frankly, given what the Liberal Party and particularly Peter Dutton tried to do with the public hospital system when he was health minister, I don't take their criticism particularly seriously. We're working hard on this, but we did not want a nickel and dime. State and territory governments in the interim. That's why we've provided $1.7 billion in additional funds to tide them over next year. At a time when all your listeners know public hospitals are under very serious pressure.
LANE: The national disability talks, the health agreement negotiations were put on ice midway through last year so that the NDIS talks could be prioritised. The states are supposed to be putting money aside and setting up these so-called foundational supports now, for people who won't qualify for the NDIS those foundational schemes are supposed to start later this year. Is that on track?
BUTLER: That is on track. They're proceeding very well. Minister Amanda Rishworth is leading them. We're also very pleased with the progress we've made to changes to the NDIS rules, which were recommended by the NDIS review. Yes, we're satisfied with that progress. We're very confident we're going to get to where we need to be on NDIS reform and ultimately with hospital funding deals as well. But in the interim, we're committed to being a reliable partner on hospital funding, which is why we've found this additional money for the 25-26 financial year.
LANE: You've talked about bulk billing. I know that working women, many with families down here, recoil at that because they just cannot find surgeries that bulk bill. Are you considering lifting the bulk billing incentive again to try and encourage doctors to do that?
BUTLER: Already what we've been able to do through our record investments is stop the freefall in bulk billing.
LANE: To the point that I made many working women here with young kids. They just can't find a surgery that does that?
BUTLER: Yeah, but we shouldn't skate over what we have been able to deliver. Making a meaningful difference. If you're talking about down here in Tasmania, for example. Our investment has led to an increase in bulk billing of around 7 per cent. But I've said over recent weeks, although that has made a meaningful difference, we know we need to do more to drive up bulk billing. That's a Labor commitment. Peter Dutton tried to abolish bulk billing, but for us, bulk billing is the beating heart of Medicare. We are committed to doing more on that front. We'll have more to say about that. Obviously, in the lead into the election, it won't surprise your listeners, but the Labor Party would take a strong Medicare policy to every federal election, and we'll be doing that.
LANE: Eighteen years ago, Kevin Rudd promised to end the blame game on health and hospital funding if he was elected for Labor leadership changes later. We're still at that point where there is a bit of a blame game and the health system is groaning at the seams. You've had three years to get it fixed. Why is it taking so long?
BUTLER: I don't agree that there's a blame game. We've been working very closely with all state and territory governments, whether they're Labor or Liberal. We got that deal done yesterday for that additional funding. Of course, they want the Commonwealth to do more in a long-term sense, and we're committed to doing that. But there's a level of cooperation between states and the Commonwealth now that there frankly, wasn't back then. I was in the health portfolio at the time you're talking about. Whether it's on digital health reform, making sure that our electronic patient records talk to each other for the benefit of patients themselves, or whether it's cooperating on the support given to older patients. There's a level of cooperation between the jurisdictions than, frankly, there hasn't been for too often in our history.
LANE: Mark Butler, thanks for joining AM this morning.
BUTLER: Thanks, Sabra.
ENDS