KEVIN Rudd has stepped up pressure on the states to accept his hospitals reform plan with a "take it or leave it" offer of $650 million to cut elective surgery waiting lists, his final offer to premiers before next week's crucial health summit.
As premiers demanded to see an integrated health plan before next Monday's meeting, the Prime Minister last night released his 95-page final offer, encompassing $2.5 billion of sweeteners to support his $50bn plan, which would create local area hospital networks funded directly by the commonwealth.
Mr Rudd, in Brisbane yesterday to lobby Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, has offered to fund 60 per cent of public hospitals through local area networks in return for clawing back 30 per cent of the GST.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister ruled out any increase in the GST to pay for his health program.
Under the $650m elective surgery plan, patients in public hospitals would be guaranteed rapid treatment -- if necessary in the private system -- if they were not treated within clinically recommended times.
Mr Rudd yesterday launched his strongest rebuttal to state resistance to the plan, saying the federal government was "not prepared to simply offer the states a big, blank cheque in a system riddled with overlap, duplication and waste". He launched a scathing attack on Victorian Premier John Brumby's rival blueprint, which aims to keep state control of public hospitals.
"Premier Brumby's health proposal seeks around $40bn over four years or $150bn over 10 years, but it is not a financially responsible blueprint for the future of Australia's healthcare system," Mr Rudd said.
"It does not grapple with the need for fundamental reform of the system, which at present encourages ineffective duplication and waste, and it would require a massive increase in taxes".
Last night, South Australian Premier Mike Rann, who has been the strongest backer of the federal health plan, appeared to attack Mr Brumby. "There's two ways of going about it: you can grandstand and lose, or you can actually quietly negotiate and get the best deal -- that's what I've been doing," Mr Rann said.
Mr Rudd will spend the next week selling his plan to the states. He will today meet NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, who has threatened to scuttle the plan if it is not beneficial to her state.
The $650m elective surgery offer was the final plank in a series of inducements since he launched the plan at the National Press Club last month.
Mr Rudd earlier announced an additional $500m to cut emergency department waiting lists to a maximum of four hours, a $739m plan to boost aged-care services, major programs to treat chronic disease such as diabetes, and programs to increase the numbers of GPs and specialists.
The latest offer will guarantee elective surgery waiting times, with a national target that 95 per cent of Australians receive elective surgery within clinically recommended times.
Mr Rudd said the extra funding amounted to the equivalent of 90,000 extra elective operations across the nation.
Under the plan, free treatment in public or private hospitals will be provided quickly once patients pass the clinically recommended time for elective surgery. The 95 per cent target would take effect from 2014.
Currently, 84 per cent of people receive treatment within a clinically acceptable time. The plan offers an immediate $300m up-front payment in 2010-11 to help clear the elective surgery backlog, and a further $350m as reward payments to states that meet or beat targets.
Mr Rudd yesterday announced a boost to primary care by creating local primary health care networks that will be charged with cutting unnecessary hospital admissions by improving patients' transition out of hospital, increasing access to allied healthcare services and identifying gaps in the GP services.
The new networks will also be charged with running preventative health campaigns in conjunction with a newly established Australian National Preventative Health Agency.
Tony Abbott yesterday accused Mr Rudd of a continuing series of PR announcements. "It seems more like a PR exercise than a well-thought-out health plan," the Opposition Leader said.
"If it were a well-thought-out health plan, why weren't all these announcements made together?"
Ms Bligh, who has remained positive about an agreement at COAG to reform the health system, yesterday pledged to consider the final package carefully.
"This is a very big reform, and that is why the states want to make sure the details are resolved before we sign up," Ms Bligh said.
"And we may well find over the next couple of days that there are some areas that can fall into place and others that we will be debating and arguing about right up until the last minute".
The Australian
