Australia health needs A$1.7B for equality

Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, will need to put an extra $1.7 billion ($1.03 billion) a year into the health system to make up for federal failings that have denied people in some parts of the country up to A$500 a year in benefits, reports the newspaper The Australian.

A new discussion paper commissioned by Mr Rudd's health reform adviser has estimated the average New South Wales resident gets A$1,010 a year through the universal Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, compared with just A$423 a person in the Northern Territory. The paper, released by the National Health and Reform Commission, called the massive funding boost required to close the gap in payouts "a feasible option" for the federal government, estimating the increase at about 1.8% of total health spending. It proposes handing the money over to new regional health bodies, which are considered better placed than federal or state authorities to judge where it should be spent.

Meantime, opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton has challenged the government to explain how it is going to fix the health system, and how much it is going to cost, noting the great inequalities across the country.