Any federal government push to seize total control of hospitals could end up "an absolute fiasco", West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has unveiled the government's plan to take $90 billion in GST revenue from the states for a new National Health and Hospital Network.
The commonwealth would boost its funding of hospital services from 35 per cent to 60 per cent and take over full financial and policy responsibility for general practice and primary care in the plan, announced on Wednesday.
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Mr Barnett said after the plan was announced it was a "sleight of hand".
He said while he did not want to get into "a pathetic little argument" about who pays what, the federal government was set to use state money as commonwealth funding.
"To say the commonwealth is going to fund 60 per cent, well no it's not, it's actually taking another 15, 20 per cent off the states," Mr Barnett told Fairfax Radio Network on Thursday.
"So it's using state money to try and say this is commonwealth funding."
Mr Barnett said a jointly administered national pool contributed to by the commonwealth and the states had merit but the notion of a commonwealth takeover did not.
"This talk about commonwealth takeovers and 100 per cent takeovers and all the rest of it - just look at the logic of it," he said.
"... there's 700 public hospitals around the country, they have been built, they are owned and they are operated by state governments.
"The commonwealth doesn't run hospitals, they have no experience of that."
Another level of bureaucracy in the health system could result in worse outcomes for patients, Mr Barnett warned.
"This could end up an absolute fiasco," he said.
In discussing the plan with Mr Rudd, the nation's only Liberal premier said he would take a careful and considered approach to it.
"I told the prime minister yesterday ... that I will take a constructive and open approach to this, but this sense of takeover and we'll have little committees out in country towns running our hospitals, let's just have sensible reform," Mr Barnett said.
A refusal by federal Treasurer Wayne Swan to rule out the possibility of a takeover of the health system was unhelpful, Mr Barnett said.
"I'm disappointed in Wayne for saying that, that's the sort of silly comment, we don't need that," he said.
"What's this going to be? Some big public battle between the states and the commonwealth?
"The patient will be forgotten in that, that's the worst way to go.
"What's the commonwealth going to do? March in and take control of Royal Perth Hospital?"
A referendum on the issue could prove disastrous for the federal government, the premier said.
"I don't believe they would win a referendum if it was a hostile environment...
"I think it would be a disaster."
