National cabinet has delayed taking any decisions about funding Australia's healthcare sector, opting to wait until later in the year to decide how the federal government, states and territories will address the strained sector.
Hospital emergency departments across the country have been reporting growing waiting times as they struggle to meet demands for treatments.
The nation's leaders received a report on Medicare, which the new federal government commissioned after coming to power. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said health would be the top priority of national cabinet in the first six months of the year, vowing to discuss funding when they again meet in late April.
States and territories want the federal government to permanently commit to a funding model struck at the height of the pandemic but the Commonwealth is yet to agree to that. The meeting came amid widespread problems that include GP shortages, rising out-of-pocket fees, lengthy waiting lists and overburdened public hospitals."Part of the issue is people are turning up at emergency departments because they don't have other options.
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