A health care reform bill which would see the Commonwealth take responsibility for a majority of funding for public hospitals, will be introduced to parliament this week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced.
The raft of reforms would also see the federal government fund 100 per cent of primary care, and 60 per cent of capital expenditure of public hospitals.
In return for alleviating the financial burden on the states, the Commonwealth will dedicate a third of GST collected to health and hospital systems.
Western Australia is the only state not to agree to the funding agreement, but the PM says they "will not stand in the way" of the implementation of the reforms.
Fronting the Canberra press gallery with Treasurer Wayne Swan and Health Minister Nicola Roxon, Ms Gillard pushed the government's reform agenda.
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Ms Gillard has called the bills "landmark legislation" which would set "new standards for health care across the country".
She criticised Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for for failing to act on funding reform when he was Health Minister in the Howard Government.
Treasurer Wayne Swan says the bills mean "significant reform of federal-state relations".
"This will mean value for every health dollar we spend," Mr Swan says.
