Provide better access and more affordable care for patients in response to the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report.
The Government will provide $5.7 billion over 5 years from 2022-23 as an initial investment to provide better access and more affordable care for patients in response to the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report. This investment will improve the quality and accessibility of multidisciplinary primary care, modernise Australia's digital health infrastructure, improve the financial sustainability of general practices, grow and upskill Australia's health workforce, and ease the pressure on hospitals. Funding to support greater access to primary care services includes: * $3.5 billion over 5 years from 2022-23 to address the decline in general practitioners' bulk billing of patients on low incomes, and children. This funding will triple the bulk billing incentive benefits for consultations for Commonwealth concession card holders and patients aged under 16 years of age. These increased incentives would apply to: - all face-to-face general practice consultations more than 6 minutes in length - all telehealth general practice services which are between 6 and 20 minutes in length (Level B consultations) - longer telehealth general practice consultations where a patient is registered with their GP through MyMedicare * $445.1 million over 5 years from 2022-23 to increase funding for the Workforce Incentive Program-Practice Stream, to both increase the maximum incentive payment to $130,000 per practice, per annum and make more general practices eligible for the maximum payment. This funding will support practices to expand multidisciplinary teams and employ more nurses, allied health and other health professionals in practices * $143.9 million over two years from 2023-24 to improve access to primary care after hours programs, comprising: - $77.9 million to extend the Primary Health Networks (PHN) After Hours Program to support general practices to fill access gaps - $25.4 million to establish a Homelessness Support Program to support homeless people's access to primary care services - $15.3 million to establish a PHN Multicultural Access Program to support multicultural communities to access primary care services - $14.8 million to support PHNs implement and support these after hours programs - $7.0 million to support Healthdirect's after hours GP helpline, and - $3.5 million to the Department of Health and Aged Care to implement and monitor the measure * $98.9 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to connect frequent hospital users to a general practice to receive comprehensive, multidisciplinary care in the community which will reduce the likelihood of hospital re-admission * $79.4 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to support PHNs to commission allied health services to improve access to multidisciplinary care for people with chronic conditions in underserviced communities * $60.2 million in 2023-24 to extend Practice Incentive Program-Quality Improvement payments for an additional year to 30 June 2024, and to undertake an intensive review of all general practice incentive programs * $47.8 million over 5 years from 2022-23 (and $12.3 million per year ongoing) to improve the treatment of chronic wounds by establishing a Chronic Wound Consumables Scheme for people with diabetes aged 65 years and First Nations people aged 50 years and over to provide eligible people with subsidised wound consumables. The measure will also provide health care professionals with education and training on chronic wound management * $29.1 million over two years from 2023-24 to support the Royal Flying Doctor Service to deliver essential services to people living in remote communities through additional primary care visits and increased aeromedical evacuations Health and Aged Care | * $19.7 million over 4 years from 2023-24 (and $3.2 million per year ongoing) to implement MyMedicare to formalise the relationship between patients and their primary care providers to improve patient care and health outcomes * $5.9 million over 5 years from 2022-23 to enable access to longer telehealth consultations through the MBS for patients and general practices under MyMedicare from 1 November 2023. Funding to support the expansion of national digital infrastructure includes: * $429.0 million over two years from 2023-24 to modernise My Health Record (MHR) including by creating a new National Repository platform which supports easier, more secure data sharing across all healthcare settings, investment to improve the sharing of pathology and diagnostic imaging information, and targeted investment to increase allied health professionals' connection to MHR * $325.7 million over 4 years from 2023-24 (and approximately $79.9 million per year ongoing), to establish the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) as an ongoing entity to deliver on the Government's commitment to strengthen Medicare. This measure will also fund a review of the ADHA's enabling legislation to ensure the agency remains fit for purpose * $69.7 million over 4 years from 2023-24 (and $4.2 million per year ongoing) to respond to recommendations made in the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report, and the Independent Review into Medicare Integrity and Compliance to digitise additional health services, and better connect health data to improve access to services for customers and health professionals. The Government has provisioned funding for the Commonwealth's contribution to the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Digital Health with the states and territories. Funding to grow and upskill the medical and health workforce and improve access to essential services by investing in training, workforce incentives and trials for innovative models of care, includes: * $50.2 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to establish the Primary Care and Midwifery Scholarships program to support registered nurses and midwives to undertake post-graduate study and improve their skills * $46.8 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to recognise the important role nurse practitioners and participating midwives play in the delivery of health care services, through: - increasing Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) schedule fees for standard nurse practitioner attendance items - expanding the eligibility for MBS case conferencing items to enable nurse practitioners to participate in allied health multidisciplinary case conferences - removing the legislated requirement for collaborative arrangements between participating midwives, nurse practitioners and medical practitioners to prescribe Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medications * $34.6 million over two years from 2023-24 to enable non-vocationally recognised doctors to receive MBS rebates under the Other Medical Practitioner Program * $31.6 million over two years from 2023-24 to trial enhanced training arrangements to support international medical students working in rural and remote locations * $27.0 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to improve the provision of, and access to, primary care and support services in thin markets by trialling integrated services and joint commissioning across primary health, First Nations health services, disability, aged care, and veterans' care sectors in up to 10 locations * $17.5 million over two years from 2022-23 to extend the General Practice Incentive Fund until 30 June 2024 and to expand its eligibility to all PHNs to improve access to primary care in thin markets * $10.7 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to boost the primary care nursing workforce by creating 6,000 primary care clinical placements and providing incentives to clinics employing returning nurses. The measure will also fund a scope of practice review to examine current models of primary care * $4.5 million over 5 years from 2022-23 ($5.4 million over 6 years) to increase rural generalist trainees by expanding the single employer model trials by a further 10 trial sites from 1 July 2023 * $4.2 million over two years from 2022-23 to support James Cook University to deliver the Australian General Practice Training program. Funding to support patient-centred policy development and the uptake and monitoring of investments in Strengthening Medicare includes: * $21.9 million over two years from 2023-24 to raise awareness of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics and MyMedicare. * $13.0 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to strengthen consumer and community representation in the design and delivery of primary care policy * $6.1 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation framework and establish an Implementation Oversight Committee as an advisory body to the Department of Health and Aged Care. The cost of this measure will be partially met from within the existing resourcing of the Department of Health and Aged Care; from funding already provided for by the Government; and by reprioritising funding from the Budget measure titled Reinvesting in Health and Aged Care Programs. Health and Aged Care | This measure delivers on the Government's election commitment Strengthening Medicare Fund as published in the Plan for a Better Future and builds on the 2022-23 October Budget measures titled Rural and Regional Health and Strengthening Medicare GP Grants.