As we age, access to quality healthcare becomes increasingly vital, and the strain on the system can often mean longer waiting times and delayed treatments.

In a move that received collective relief from Australians, the Federal Government announced a substantial investment which could be a beacon of hope for many.

The Federal Government gave Medicare a $1.7 billion boost aimed at bolstering public hospitals.

The funding should also jumpstart much-needed health reforms.

It should also alleviate the immense pressure the Australian healthcare system has been under, especially after COVID-19.

Hospitals across Australia should see changes brought upon by the billion-dollar boost. Image Credit: Pexels/Pixabay

The $1.7 billion fund was a one-off boost that should be distributed equitably across all states and territories.

The total Commonwealth funding for public hospitals and health services should reach $33.91 billion by the 2025-26 financial year.

This boost was more than just a number; it could also be a lifeline for the many Australians who have been waiting for essential medical procedures or struggling to access the care they need.

'Labor created Medicare, and we will protect it and strengthen it,' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared, emphasising the party's historical connection to the healthcare system.

'Healthcare is the first issue I engaged with as a very young man; it's what brought me into politics; nothing's more important.'

Health Minister Mark Butler also opened up about the need to reform Australia's public health system.

'We have a terrific public health system, but it is a hospital system under very serious pressure,' Minister Butler stated.

The funding allocation has been carefully considered.

The Northern Territory should receive a $51 million boost, addressing what Butler described as 'grossly inequitable' conditions.

Other states should also see significant funding, with NSW receiving $407 million, Victoria with $402 million, Queensland with $414 million and Western Australia with $158 million.

South Australia should also receive $169 million, and both Tasmania and the ACT should receive $50 million each.

The announcement came on the heels of the Australian Medical Association's (AMA) call for a multibillion-dollar overhaul of Medicare.

The AMA's Modernise Medicare proposal wanted to address critical issues in healthcare and general practice across the country.

For seniors with regular medical needs, this funding could mean shorter wait times, more accessible GP services, and an overall improvement in healthcare services.

It's a step towards ensuring that Australians are supported by a healthcare system that is robust, responsive, and respectful of everyone's needs.

Key Takeaways

• The federal government announced a $1.7 billion boost to Medicare to strengthen Australia's public hospital system.
• The investment aimed to deliver structural health reform and should be distributed across all states and territories.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasised the importance of healthcare and his commitment to strengthening Medicare.
• The funding was a response to the public health system's significant pressure.

How do you think will the $1.7 billion boost change your regular health check-ups? We would love to hear your thoughts on this development, so share your opinions and expectations in the comments below.

 

[Jest]

Why should I want to be anybody else?

Who do you desire to be? Camilla Gorilla?

now that is a very childish remark from a very unintelligen person.

 

[Royal Watcher]

I will stay out of the politics side without commenting on the why, how & what each party will or will not do to get votes. However, I will say that any improvement to our healthcare system will take time, many years, in fact.

Immigration of HIGHLY QUALIFIED doctors and nurses is a first step to fill the gaps immediately without the sarcasm of ‘immigrants’ coming into the conversation. Then training of our own, WHO WANT TO PURSUE THESE CAREERS, will take time and those careers MUST be undertaken only by people who genuinely want to do them and they MUST have a passion to do good. It’s no use saying governments need to train more doctors or nurses - they MUST WANT to be doctors and nurses and a proper and high degree of training is essential.

Took govts decades to keep trying to fix a bad system that should never have been implemented- it failed elsewhere but as usual Australia just thought “we’ll make it work”!! Well wrong again!
Look at the NDIS? I’m sure done with good intentions but once again, Labour has these great ideas & implements systems that they haven’t trialled or perfected & then the taxpayers spend decades trying to dig their way out of the mess & blame other govts for leaving Them w a mess to clean up!!
Whoever starts the ball rolling, at least map out the direction you’re rolling it in first & keep it on track!
I don’t know if rest of you are, but I’m fed up with my taxes being spent on Royal commissions, reviews, studies etc etc etc & wastage like the Voice etc!
The time & money that was wasted even when it was clear it was not going to get off the ground, was the legacy of this govt - no matter what they’re rattling on about doing now IF they get re-elected!!!! Time’s hopefully run out! We need a change!!!

 

[Knell]

Took govts decades to keep trying to fix a bad system that should never have been implemented- it failed elsewhere but as usual Australia just thought “we’ll make it work”!! Well wrong again!
Look at the NDIS? I’m sure done with good intentions but once again, Labour has these great ideas & implements systems that they haven’t trialled or perfected & then the taxpayers spend decades trying to dig their way out of the mess & blame other govts for leaving Them w a mess to clean up!!
Whoever starts the ball rolling, at least map out the direction you’re rolling it in first & keep it on track!
I don’t know if rest of you are, but I’m fed up with my taxes being spent on Royal commissions, reviews, studies etc etc etc & wastage like the Voice etc!
The time & money that was wasted even when it was clear it was not going to get off the ground, was the legacy of this govt - no matter what they’re rattling on about doing now IF they get re-elected!!!! Time’s hopefully run out! We need a change!!!

Oh! A right royal liberal rant!
Here are a few of my favourite things/failings of Liberals that did not help the common folk:-
Malcolm Turnbull:- Liberal In office 15 September 2015 – 24 August 2018
*Cut the pensions of around 370,000 Australians by up to $12,000 every year thanks to changes to the pension assets test; axed the pensioner energy supplement; plans to increase the pension age to 70 – one of the oldest retirement ages in the developed world.
*Cutting $184 million from the Australian Federal Police over the next four years, with 151 Police personnel to go in the first year alone.
*Presiding over a $23.6 billion deficit – eight times larger than the $2.8 billion deficit in the Liberals’ first horror Budget in 2014.
*Proposing withdrawing all Federal Government funding for schools and hospitals. Cutting $17 billion from Australian schools and $2.2 billion from Australian universities.
*Giving millionaires a $16,400 tax cut while increasing income taxes for ordinary working Australians earning less than $87,000. Under Turnbull’s plan the CEOs of the big banks are getting a tax cut while a nurse earning $60,000 gets a $300 tax increase every year.
*Refusing to crack down on the rorts and rip-offs in the private health insurance sector – private health insurance is now costing Australians $1000 more every year than when the Liberals were elected in 2013.

Medicare - Australia was ranked as having the third-best healthcare system in the world by the CEOWORLD magazine Health Care Index. We earned high marks for government readiness, modern medical infrastructure and equitable access.
Before Medicare - Prior to the introduction of Medicare in 1984 the leading cause of bankruptcy in Australia had been unpaid hospital bills. Getting the health care that you needed was literally sending thousands of Australians broke every single year.

 

[Royal Watcher]

Finally some one else who remembers what previous LNP governments have done to decimate Medicare health services. All the current problems are being laid at the feet of the Labor Government, who inherited these problems when taking office after more than 12 years of an LNP government, do Labor have a magic wand? can they solve all inherited problems straight away, on the day they take office??
Obviously not , however because they were expected to perform miracles to torn back the on coming tides of disasters waiting for them, such as financial issues leading to budget issues then leading to cost of living issues not to mention not enough doctors and nurses in our hospitals all neatly packaged together to give the average person on the street an excuse to vote them out and put the LNP back into government again!! So Dutton with his Nuclear power dreams that Australia has no way of paying for because that and the Aukus deal will bankrupt us there will be no more medicare it will be gutted just like every other social service, forget the age pension it will be cut to the point our elderly cannot feed themselves because the LNP do not care about the average person they only want to serve big business who put ever expanding donations into their coffers. A vote for the LNP is a vote for capitalism that this country cannot afford Good grief give me strength.

Oh! A right royal liberal rant!
Here are a few of my favourite things/failings of Liberals that did not help the common folk:-
Malcolm Turnbull:- Liberal In office 15 September 2015 – 24 August 2018
*Cut the pensions of around 370,000 Australians by up to $12,000 every year thanks to changes to the pension assets test; axed the pensioner energy supplement; plans to increase the pension age to 70 – one of the oldest retirement ages in the developed world.
*Cutting $184 million from the Australian Federal Police over the next four years, with 151 Police personnel to go in the first year alone.
*Presiding over a $23.6 billion deficit – eight times larger than the $2.8 billion deficit in the Liberals’ first horror Budget in 2014.
*Proposing withdrawing all Federal Government funding for schools and hospitals. Cutting $17 billion from Australian schools and $2.2 billion from Australian universities.
*Giving millionaires a $16,400 tax cut while increasing income taxes for ordinary working Australians earning less than $87,000. Under Turnbull’s plan the CEOs of the big banks are getting a tax cut while a nurse earning $60,000 gets a $300 tax increase every year.
*Refusing to crack down on the rorts and rip-offs in the private health insurance sector – private health insurance is now costing Australians $1000 more every year than when the Liberals were elected in 2013.

Medicare - Australia was ranked as having the third-best healthcare system in the world by the CEOWORLD magazine Health Care Index. We earned high marks for government readiness, modern medical infrastructure and equitable access.
Before Medicare - Prior to the introduction of Medicare in 1984 the leading cause of bankruptcy in Australia had been unpaid hospital bills. Getting the health care that you needed was literally sending thousands of Australians broke every single year.

OMG! You really need a Forum all of your own!
Wow! You must love trolling through facts & figures, which is great - I don’t have the time to do that! Mores the pity because I’m sure I could come up with plenty of damning facts & figures to compliment Labour Govts past & present!!!
I’m not ranting when I write, I just say what observe! I’ll leave the ranting & raving to the lefties, I concede they have perfected that over the years better than anything Liberals can come up with!
Have a great evening!!

 

[Royal Watcher]

You ARE a piece of Libel-al shit!

Go play in the traffic you gimp!

Finally some one else who remembers what previous LNP governments have done to decimate Medicare health services. All the current problems are being laid at the feet of the Labor Government, who inherited these problems when taking office after more than 12 years of an LNP government, do Labor have a magic wand? can they solve all inherited problems straight away, on the day they take office??
Obviously not , however because they were expected to perform miracles to torn back the on coming tides of disasters waiting for them, such as financial issues leading to budget issues then leading to cost of living issues not to mention not enough doctors and nurses in our hospitals all neatly packaged together to give the average person on the street an excuse to vote them out and put the LNP back into government again!! So Dutton with his Nuclear power dreams that Australia has no way of paying for because that and the Aukus deal will bankrupt us there will be no more medicare it will be gutted just like every other social service, forget the age pension it will be cut to the point our elderly cannot feed themselves because the LNP do not care about the average person they only want to serve big business who put ever expanding donations into their coffers. A vote for the LNP is a vote for capitalism that this country cannot afford Good grief give me strength.

You ARE a piece of Libel-al shit!

Go play in the traffic you gimp!

 

[Veggiepatch]

OMG! You really need a Forum all of your own!
Wow! You must love trolling through facts & figures, which is great - I don’t have the time to do that! Mores the pity because I’m sure I could come up with plenty of damning facts & figures to compliment Labour Govts past & present!!!
I’m not ranting when I write, I just say what observe! I’ll leave the ranting & raving to the lefties, I concede they have perfected that over the years better than anything Liberals can come up with!
Have a great evening!!

If you haven't got the time to research facts, then anything you state may as well be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Royal Watcher]

If you haven't got the time to research facts, then anything you state may as well be taken with a grain of salt.

You may take what I say any way you like lovey! Not arguing over any of it cos as my dear mother used to say “you can’t argue with fools”
This is a friendly forum (I thought) where peeps have their opinions & freedom of speech is welcomed, but I see it’s still a place where some like to toss their weight around & have nasty little digs at each other! Disagree by all means but do it with a bit of grace!
And we’re not in a competition to show how much we know by doing “research” on topics are we?
If that’s the case let me know, cos I can research along with the best of them if I need to! Just didn’t think I had to bring my uni brain to this Forum!!!!!!!
Let’s just rest this topic now shall we?Thankyou to Suzanne Rose for her generosity, hopefully some who needed clothes have been able to avail themselves of the beautiful items she has put on here to choose from!
Ciao, ciao everyone! Enjoy the cooler weather if you’re in Sth eastern states!

 

[Knell]

OMG! You really need a Forum all of your own!
Wow! You must love trolling through facts & figures, which is great - I don’t have the time to do that! Mores the pity because I’m sure I could come up with plenty of damning facts & figures to compliment Labour Govts past & present!!!
I’m not ranting when I write, I just say what observe! I’ll leave the ranting & raving to the lefties, I concede they have perfected that over the years better than anything Liberals can come up with!
Have a great evening!!

Well, that was saying nothing and just being snarky. Yes, I do prefer to look at facts and figures, cause and effect. Just pointing out the many issues we are encountering now are as a direct result of the previous 9 years of Liberal Govt. actions (Labour have only been in Govt. just short of 3 years) (and they are post-pandemic years). Medicare is considered to be one of Australia’s greatest social achievements. All Australians have had access to life-saving healthcare for the past 40 years. The people have and continue to pay a levy to support the system for all Australians…hardly something to criticise. As we have an aging population and therefore increased demands on our healthcare system, it is a constant balancing act to accommodate all Australians. Which is why we need more actual taxpayers!
NDIS was introduced in 2013 - SO it has been under the Liberal Govt. management nationally (and shared by States) since inception until 2022.
The Voice was unsuccessful - ok, but 40% of Australians (not an insignificant number of people) did vote yes. Those people had a right to be heard, whether you like it or not. And Queensland (or I should say, anything north of Brisbane) was always going to be the biggest No - no surprises about that!

 

[Royal Watcher]

Well, that was saying nothing and just being snarky. Yes, I do prefer to look at facts and figures, cause and effect. Just pointing out the many issues we are encountering now are as a direct result of the previous 9 years of Liberal Govt. actions (Labour have only been in Govt. just short of 3 years) (and they are post-pandemic years). Medicare is considered to be one of Australia’s greatest social achievements. All Australians have had access to life-saving healthcare for the past 40 years. The people have and continue to pay a levy to support the system for all Australians…hardly something to criticise. As we have an aging population and therefore increased demands on our healthcare system, it is a constant balancing act to accommodate all Australians. Which is why we need more actual taxpayers!
NDIS was introduced in 2013 - SO it has been under the Liberal Govt. management nationally (and shared by States) since inception until 2022.
The Voice was unsuccessful - ok, but 40% of Australians (not an insignificant number of people) did vote yes. Those people had a right to be heard, whether you like it or not. And Queensland (or I should say, anything north of Brisbane) was always going to be the biggest No - no surprises about that!

 

[Royal Watcher]

You have so much to say & seem to like the sound of your own voice, so carry on lovey! You are a walking encyclopaedia or perhaps your name is Google?
Either way, you can chortle on about the wonderful Labour Govts, past & present to your hearts content!
It’s a free country, how lucky are we!?
Let’s face it, either of our major parties are better than the alternative in other countries so a bit of friendly banter about them is a privilege we have in our democracy!

 

[Knell]

You have so much to say & seem to like the sound of your own voice, so carry on lovey! You are a walking encyclopaedia or perhaps your name is Google?
Either way, you can chortle on about the wonderful Labour Govts, past & present to your hearts content!
It’s a free country, how lucky are we!?
Let’s face it, either of our major parties are better than the alternative in other countries so a bit of friendly banter about them is a privilege we have in our democracy!

Banter? Snide, sarcastic comments is not banter - more in the category of bitterness and nastiness (lovey). If this is all you can bring to the table, you are surely lacking in substance. Yes I do use google to find information - who doesn’t? I definitely won’t find the information I seek in the bible.

 

[Royal Watcher]

Banter? Snide, sarcastic comments is not banter - more in the category of bitterness and nastiness (lovey). If this is all you can bring to the table, you are surely lacking in substance. Yes I do use google to find information - who doesn’t? I definitely won’t find the information I seek in the bible.

Over the time I’ve been on this Forum you have had some ‘nasty’/ ‘snide’ comments & I’m not a bitter person but methinks you should look in the mirror & you may see that sort of person looking back at you!
As for your reference to the Bible, maybe you should look in it, there’s some great advice for all of us with regards to turning other cheek or taking the splinter out of your ‘brothers eye’ when you might need to extract the plank from your own!!
Makes us all stop & think & by the way, I wouldn’t believe everything Google tells you!
Let’s just agree to disagree on some things shall we?
Must be away & get my washing off line before the lovely cool wind blows it away! Even the local family of Maggies are enjoying the cool & having an important conversation in my trees out front! All the birds do their planning for the next day I think, at about this time!!
Love listening to them, so many diff ones - beautiful sound!🕊
Have a lovely evening & take care everyone

 

[Soxylox]

It's not going to help much in WA. It's nothing compared to other states.