National Health Reform Briefings – Questions taken on notice – Perth
Has the Commonwealth set a time for review of the Home and Community Care (HACC) funding arrangements in Western Australia and Victoria, or will the current arrangements be ongoing?
In relation to the Home and Community Care (HACC) funding arrangements in Western Australia and Victoria, it was agreed in the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) that the changes to roles and responsibilities for basic community care, aged care and disability services would not apply in these states.Basic community care services will continue to be delivered in Western Australia and Victoria under existing HACC arrangements, as a joint Commonwealth-State funded program. Under these arrangements, the Commonwealth provides approximately 60 per cent of funding with the state government providing the balance of funding. The Commonwealth will maintain existing bilateral agreements with each state for this purpose.
Under the NHRA, a review of the existing arrangements with Western Australia and Victoria will take place in 2012, limited to a review of business processes.
Are there plans to measure or put weighting against clinician’s caseloads for the community mental health sector (aside from ICD – 10)?
It is not possible, at this stage, to provide an indication of how mental health services will be weighted under a national Activity Based Funding (ABF) framework.Under the National Health Reform Agreement, a nationally consistent ABF framework for mental health services will commence on 1 July 2013. The mental health services eligible for Commonwealth funding on an activity or block funding basis are those that can be reasonably considered to be a public hospital service.
A mental health advisory working group of state and territory health department officers and clinicians has begun work on the most appropriate classification, counting and costing methods for mental health services. The methodology will be informed by extensive consultation with the sector.
What's happening
Changes to the sale of tobacco products
The Tobacco Plain Packaging Information Kit provides practical information on the responsibilities and obligations of retailers and other suppliers of tobacco products under the new Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011.
eHealth.gov.au
eHealth.gov.au is your gateway to Australia's personally controlled electronic health record system, linking you to information about eHealth records and the system itself. Visit www.ehealth.gov.au
Living Longer. Living Better.
On 20 April 2012, the Prime Minister and Minister Butler unveiled a comprehensive package of reforms to build a better, fairer, more sustainable and more nationally consistent aged care system.
