NT health spending the highest in the country, new data shows

HEALTH spending in the Northern Territory is the highest in the country, according to newly released data

Health spending in the Northern Territory is the highest in the country, according to new data

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HEALTH spending in the Northern Territory is the highest in the country.

Data released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed $10,857 was spent on health in the Northern Territory per person in 2017-18, compared to a national average of $7485.

Our health spending is also growing fastest, with an annual growth rate of 4.9 per cent in constant prices since 2007.

The national annual growth rate in that period was 3.9 per cent.

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However, the Territory’s per capita spending growth slowed significantly in 2017-18, for an increase of just 0.4 per cent.

The data follows a warning from Australian Medical Association for the Commonwealth to increase health funding to the Northern Territory now or face the consequences. AMA NT president Rob Parker recently said the Territory’s health system was “extremely stressed”.

“We’ve got the busiest hospital system in Australia and unless we get significant increases in funding, it’s going to lead to large waiting times,” he said.

AMA NT wrote to the Federal Government, begging it to increase public hospital funding for the NT.

Dr Parker said the NT’s “health crisis” was “above politics” but the Gunner Government was not in a position to invest any more money.

“The NT Government is broke,” he said.

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“This money needs to come from the Federal Government.”

Despite the big spend on health in the Northern Territory, our spend by private insurers was far below the average. Private insurers paid out just $879 per person in the NT, 60 per cent of the national figure of $1470.

Total health spending in Australia increased by $2.2 billion in 2017-18 to $185.4 billion in constant prices.

Nationally, personal out-of- pocket health costs came to $1578 per person in 2017-18. There has been little change in the proportion of individual net worth spent on health in the past decade.