A temporary extension to GST top-up payments and a more generous hospital funding deal may be the price the federal government will have to pay if the states are to agree to ease the burden on the burgeoning National Disability Insurance Scheme.

But on the eve of Wednesday’s national cabinet meeting, which will be dominated by NDIS reform, the federal government said while there was a “a deal to be done across a range of areas”, it would not be done at any cost.