Labor's Pledge to Address Cost-Shifting Welcomed
Labor's pledge to address cost-shifting issues in health care was a long overdue and welcome move, the Federal President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Kerryn Phelps, said today.
"I welcome the commitment to hold a national summit which brings together state and federal governments with doctors, nurses and other health workers as well as the wider community," Dr Phelps said. "The AMA has been calling for such a move for some time."
"Cost shifting and blame shifting have been a feature of the system for far too long. It is good to see Labor put forward ideas that may overcome it.
"The proposal for a 'joint account' is worth exploring, but there is little detail about how it might operate. Labor says the details of the new arrangements will be resolved at the national health summit, but more detail will be needed about what Labor has in mind before the election is called.
"The proposal to negotiate a common commitment by both levels of government to a decade of real growth in public health funding is again welcome, but we would like to see some detail about what growth targets are to be set.
"Our public hospitals need a substantial injection of funds. As the Senate report said, the system is suffering from 'serious under-funding'. Labor has pledged to 'negotiate a common commitment to a decade of real growth in public health funding'.
"This is not actually a commitment to a decade of real growth in public health funding, but a commitment to negotiate a commitment.
"As Labor says, we need to ease the pressure on our public hospitals. But we also need to see a commitment to helping general practice, a commitment to consolidating the gains made in private health care, a commitment to stop the introduction of US-style managed care and a commitment to give a real funding boost for Aboriginal and public health," Dr Phelps said.