Health was at the heart of last year’s budget. Last night, tax and housing took centre stage, and there were few surprises in health.
Most new health funding goes to previous commitments and continuing programs, including big spending on public hospitals, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and urgent care centres.
The government says this budget is about cost of living, spending restraint, and inter-generational fairness. That is reflected in funding health services that are free for patients, cutting private health insurance subsidies for older people, and cracking down on fraud and waste in Medicare billing.
