WA would be $149M worse off under proposed Medicare Agreement

19/3/98

Western Australia will be $149 million worse off under the new Medicare Agreement proposed by the Federal Government, Health Minister Kevin Prince said today.

"The Federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, is attempting to blackmail WA into signing a new agreement. This would cut hospital funding by $149 million that would be provided if the Commonwealth honoured its commitments under the current agreement, if it were to continue," Mr Prince said.

"That offer is totally unacceptable to this State and Dr Wooldridge is now engaging in irresponsible tactics in a bid to get the States to sign up - and we are not going to play that game."

Mr Prince expressed anger today at a media statement and briefing note released late yesterday by Dr Wooldridge which claimed 1,300 Western Australians would miss out on elective surgery this week because of the State Government's failure to sign the new agreement.

Dr Wooldridge said that under the Federal Government's new Critical and Urgent Treatment (CUT) Waiting Lists Incentive, WA could access $3.47 million for elective surgery if the State signed an in-principle agreement over health funding.

"The fact of the matter is this agreement is still vastly inadequate and WA's health system will be worse off if the State agrees to sign up," Mr Prince said.

"This State is not going to accept the bribe being offered by Dr Wooldridge in the form of the CUT program because it reeks of blackmail.

"Given that the Commonwealth is now providing the ACT with almost $3,000 per hospital admission, I think this should become the benchmark for Commonwealth funding under the new agreements."

Mr Prince said the announcement of the CUT program was recognition by the Commonwealth that public hospitals throughout Australia had problems with waiting lists.

"If the Commonwealth has the funds available, it should distribute the money immediately so that additional services can be provided to people requiring treatment," he said.

The Minister said he was still firmly of the view that an extra $1.1 billion per year should be added to the base level of Commonwealth Medicare funding - not $1.1 billion over the five-year agreement as proposed by Dr Wooldridge.

"The level of Commonwealth funding has progressively fallen behind hospital expenditure requirements over the period of the current Medicare Agreement," Mr Prince said.

"The current Medicare Agreements require that the level of funding to the States be reviewed each time the number of people with insurances falls by two per cent.

"According to the Commonwealth's own figures, the number has dropped by 7.5 per cent nationally over the period of the agreement and the States have not received an extra cent from the Commonwealth."

Mr Prince said the quality of hospital services throughout Australia could be threatened if the funding shortfalls were not addressed by the Commonwealth.

He rejected claims by Dr Wooldridge that the Minister was attempting to undermine the Medicare policy.

"I strongly support Medicare and the commitment the Federal Coalition made to retain the Medicare policy," Mr Prince said.

"However, the challenge now is for the Federal Government to deliver on its promise by providing the States with sufficient funding to allow Medicare to continue."

Mr Prince said he was hopeful that a satisfactory funding deal could be worked out at the Premier's conference in Canberra tomorrow.

Media contact: Kirsten Stoney 9 221 1377