Pressure continues to mount for federal government intervention on the under-fire health network, with one state claiming it has reneged on a pledge to boost funding.
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Tasmania's premier said people were becoming increasingly stranded in the state's hospital system waiting for aged care places or access to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, blaming a lack of federal cash for the crisis.
Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the federal Labor government had made no progress on its 2023 pledge to cover 42.5 per cent of public hospital running costs by 2030 and 45 per cent by 2035.
Tasmania faces a $673 million shortfall as a result, Mr Rockliff claimed.
"The reality is, the federal government, when it comes to percentages for our health system, is actually going backwards, not forwards," he said.
"We have over 90 people stranded within our hospital system waiting for placement when it comes to aged care or the NDIS. This is not good enough."
States and territories are in negotiations with Canberra to finalise the hospital funding deal, and the health minister's office claimed its most recent offer included an additional $20 billion across five years.
That is $7 billion more than the offer it made in December 2023 and is in addition to the $195 billion it has already committed.
Leaders claim the share of federal funding would be closer to 35 per cent under the federal government's latest offer.
"The Commonwealth is prepared to negotiate in good faith and looks forward to discussing the offer with states … we want to see it finalised by the end of the year," a government spokesperson said.
Tasmania's hospital funding has been bumped up 14 per cent this financial year, they said.
Tasmanian Labor MP Sarah Lovell agreed the hospital system was in crisis, but blamed the state government, saying it had allowed ramping to run rampant.
"Tasmania's public health system is in crisis, and with no plan except trying to blame everyone else, the Liberals can't be trusted to fix it," she said.
Rising costs in public hospitals are attributed to a growing cohort of long-stay patients, workforce shortages, high inflation and increasing complexity.
Australian Associated Press
