The Government has launched the National COVID Health Management Plan for 2023, a ‘consistent’ approach to COVID – drawing fire from the AMA.
According to the plan, over 2023 Australia will transition to managing COVID in a comparable way to other respiratory viruses, moving away from ‘COVID exceptionalism’ and ‘bespoke arrangements,’ even though the nation is not yet at a state where the virus can be managed or predicted within normal systems.
Mr Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Aged Care, made the announcement on 12 December 2022, noting that the scheme was agreed by National Cabinet on 30 September 2022, and will result in the investment of an additional $2.9 billion dollars in special COVID measures over the coming year.
“The National Plan provides clear guidance to the community and health care providers on how the Australian Government will play its part in managing COVID into the future,” Minister Butler said.
“This Plan strikes the right balance to protect vulnerable Australians, and to protect the integrity of our health and hospital system while transitioning safely out of the emergency phase of the pandemic.
“Importantly, the National Plan recognises that COVID continues to disproportionally impact some Australians and therefore the Australian Government will continue to support those most at risk, while ensuring we have the capacity to respond to future waves and variants.”
The Commonwealth will continue and extend the 50/50 funding arrangements for state PCR testing clinics, where states choose to continue those clinics or other testing services, and for state vaccine administration services as well.
Most GP respiratory clinics will continue to operate during summer and will be put on to a retainer arrangement from 1 March 2023, so that they can scale up in the event of future waves.
The Government is also extending special Medicare or MBS items for PCR testing in pathology clinics, GP consults for COVID-positive patients and for people who are seeking a prescription for oral antiviral medicines for COVID.
However, from January 1st, COVID admissions to Australia’s hospitals will be funded in the standard way under the National Health Reform Agreement, which divides or allocates funding for hospital systems between the Commonwealth and State governments – a move which has drawn criticism from the AMA.
AMA President Professor Steve Robson pointed out that while the current agreement was temporary, COVID was still having a significant impact on the health system and the health of Australians.
“We are about to hit one of the busiest times of the year for our public hospitals and there will likely be a surge in COVID cases out of the 4th wave — this is the worst time to pull the financial rug out from under the states,” Professor Robson said.
“In recent days we have seen stark evidence of the disastrous state of our public hospitals with the performance of emergency departments hitting record lows, and a reduction in the volume of elective surgeries performed because our hospitals are in logjam. We have also seen children waiting up to 12 hours for emergency care and patients dying while ramped at hospitals.
“While the AMA acknowledges other measures announced in this package, the health minister should immediately reconsider his decision not to extend the 50-50 COVID funding. The new year must bring with it a permanent and fairer funding agreement.”
Despite the AMA’s misgivings, the health supports contained in the plan were informed by the Australian epidemiological outlook for 2023, and advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly.
Professor Kelly noted that the likely emergence of new variants, including those able to partially evade immune responses, meant that Australia could expect to experience new waves on a regular basis for at least the next two years.
“The Australian Government will continue to respond to these waves as they occur – with a particular focus on protecting those most at risk in our community,” Professor Kelly said.
“The severity of future waves may be milder, placing less pressure on the health system and this, combined with improved immunity and hybrid immunity from repeat infections and targeted vaccinations, would reduce the clinical impact and result in fewer Australians suffering severe illness and death.
“The National COVID Community Protection Framework for a COVIDSafe Australia also provides an array of responses that can be employed to “slow the spread” of the virus during these waves, and the National COVID Health Management Plan has been developed to ensure the health and aged care systems have the capacity to respond as the pandemic continues to evolve.”
A list of key measures in the National Plan is below and the full document can be found here.