Rural Australia missing out on $$6.55 billion in health funding: report

Peak medical groups are calling for the establishment of a nationwide network of specific rural health services.

National Rural Health Alliance CEO Susi Tegen.

Medical groups are calling for a nationwide network of rural health services after it was ­revealed governments spend $6.5bn a year less on regional and remote patients despite higher burdens of disease.

A report by the Nous Group commissioned by the National Rural Health Alliance showed that each person in rural Australia is missing out on nearly $850 a year of healthcare access that is obtained by those living in the cities.

The report found that in 2020-21, the total health-spend shortfall between urban and rural citizens was $6.55bn.

The report reveals large increases in payments to urban patients under the Medicare Benefits Schedule and public subsidies to patients accessing private hospitals, but this ­increase in primary care health expenditure and private health was not matched in the bush, where public hospital costs ­instead increased markedly.

In 2010, Medicare payments to urban patients totalled $10.7bn, and increased to $17.6bn in 2021. Regional and rural Medicare expenditure only increased from $3.8bn to $6.3bn over the same time period.

Private hospital costs paid by governments exploded from $4.9bn to $13.5bn for urban ­patients between 2010 and 2021, but only increased from $1.75bn to $4.1bn over the same period for regional and rural patients.

“These trends reflect the barriers to primary healthcare in rural Australia and are consistent with a reliance on more ­costly secondary and tertiary care for worsened disease presentation,” the report says.

The NRHA, made up of 47 ­organisations nationally, said the report indicated primary healthcare in rural areas needed to be redesigned “at the grassroots”. “The report … reveals the alarming day-to-day realities for rural Australians unable to ­access equitable care,” ­alliance chief executive Susi Tegen said.

“Over seven million people, who make up nearly a third of Australia’s population, experience a greater burden from illness and early death, in part due to inadequate funding for their healthcare.”

The alliance wants the government to fund a national network of multi-disciplinary integrated health services that would function in a similar way to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations with block government funding.

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners rural chair Michael Clements also called for action.

“This report is yet ­another wake up call,” Professor Clements said. “A total annual rural health spending deficit of $6.5bn simply is not good enough, and a key part of the ­solution lies in boosting general practice care.

“In many rural and particularly remote areas, it’s just not ­viable to run a practice. State and territory governments … must recognise this market failure and work with local communities, ­including councils, to ensure strong access to general practice care.”