Australia's 2015 Budget fails to restore funding for public hospitals

 12-May-15, Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association

The 2015 Budget has failed to address the unprecedented cuts to public hospitals funding made by the Commonwealth Government last year.

Image: Hospital and Agedcare

“In the 2014 Budget, the Government rescinded $57 billion in funding that was to go to the States and Territories to fund essential hospital services, and that had been agreed through bipartisan negotiations,” says Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) Chief Executive, Alison Verhoeven.

“With that decision, the Government also walked away from activity-based funding based on efficient hospital pricing and unilaterally withdrew from long negotiated agreements between all governments on how the public hospital system needs to be funded. The Government knows that the States and Territories do not have the capacity to raise an extra $57 billion through their own taxes.”

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