Catholic hospitals and pharmacies that are operating near or below break even in their provision of chemotherapy services are under increasing financial pressure following changes to the price paid under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to supply chemotherapy drugs and another impending reduction, Catholic Health Australia has told a Senate Inquiry. The price reductions occur under a policy of "price disclosure" whereby the PBS price is brought into line with the market price once a drug comes off patent. CHA supports price disclosure, but has argued that hospital pharmacies need to be adequately paid for the professional work involved in preparing and supplying chemotherapy drugs.

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Hundreds of thousands of Australians are suffering from ill health because health reforms implemented in recent years aren't having an impact on their lives. Catholic Health Australia CEO Martin Laverty says it's time for political parties to get serious about improving the health of all Australians.

Catholic Health Australia (CHA) today released its Health Blueprint, which outlines six key priorities for how ongoing health reform can be effective and reach those seemingly untouched by previous reforms.

Click here to access the Health Blueprint

In this submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration's Inquiry into the implementation of the National Health Reform Agreement, Catholic Health Australia explains that beds will close in Catholic hospitals, staff will be cut, emergency department targets won't be met and surgical procedures won't be carried out because of funding cuts to public hospitals. CHA also reiterated its view that a single tier of government funding, most likely from the Commonwealth, would provide a more stable funding system for hospitals in Australia.

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In its submission to the Community Affairs References Committee Senate Inquiry into Australia's domestic response to the World Health Organisation's Commission on Social Determinants of Health report Closing the Gap Within a Generation, Catholic Health Australia called on the Government to implement a model for action on the social determinants of health. The model would include the development of principles by the Social Inclusion Unit, the development of a national strategy to address health inequality, the coordination of data collection by the Productivity Commission and the presentation in Parliament on the indicators for action on the social determinants of health by the Prime Minister, as well as a number of other steps.

Click here to read CHA's submission.

Click here to read CHA's response to Questions on Notice following CEO Martin Laverty's evidence given to the Committee.

Catholic Health Australia has commended the Australian National Preventative Health Agency for its draft research strategy for the next four years, expressing the thanks of Catholic public and private hospitals. Responding the invitation to comment on the National Preventive Health Research Strategy (2012-2016) Consultation Draft, CHA offered its endorsement but argued that the addition of CHA's proposed inclusion of a social determinants framework -- flagged by then-Health Minister Nicola Roxon when enabling legislation for the agency -- should be added to the strategy document.

Click here to read CHA's response to the National Preventive Health Research Strategy (2012-2016) Consultation Draft.

Responding to the Senate Inquiry into a certain item in the Health Regulations 2007, Catholic Health Australia recognised that Medicare was established as a means of providing universal access to health care and, in its view, it would be contrary to the common good if women in need of medical care during traumatic events related to pregnancy were inadvertently excluded from Medicare coverage due to the proposed legislation.

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While broadly supportive of the discussion paper's key elements, Catholic Health Australia paid particular attention in this submission to three main areas: Overall health care funding; payment models and structure of providers; and access, including workforce supply, workforce distribution, workforce occupation roles and the ability of patients to afford access to care regardless of economic means.

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Catholic Health Australia, in its submission on the Productivity Commission's Review of Regulatory Burdens on Business, focussed on how regulations on health and aged care services can be burdensome. Among the areas CHA felt could be considered were building certification procedures, fire safety declarations, police checks, compulsory reporting and the streamlining of community aged care.

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