Health ministers and their billion-dollar barney over hospitals — what the hell is going on?
About one in ten public hospital beds are now used by stranded patients, raising costs and tensions between governments.
Two years ago, the federal and state governments broadly agreed on how to manage the next decade of public hospital funding.
Yet state and territory health ministers say the deal is already collapsing.
The December 2023 agreement involved the Federal Government increasing its contribution from 41% to 42.5% of total public hospital funding by 2030, followed by an additional increase to 45% by 2035.
Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said at the time that the Federal Government was putting in an extra $13.2 billion over the 2025-30 period, taking its overall contribution to almost $200 billion over 10 years.
