A public referendum on health reform will definitely go ahead if the government's health reform package is not finalised on Monday, Health Minister Nicola Roxon says.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is this morning heading into a make-or-break meeting with premiers and chief ministers on health reform in Canberra.
Mr Rudd wants the states to hand over 30 per cent of their GST revenue in return for the commonwealth taking control of 60 per cent of hospital funding.
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But NSW, Victoria and Western Australia don't see eye to eye with him on the issue.
In an attempt to ease the tension, the federal government has guaranteed that $15.6 billion it promised to meet the nation's future health costs will be paid - even if the actual costs are less.
Funding guarantee
"We know that health expenditure is going up," federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon told ABC Radio on Monday.
"We know that we need to be able to ensure that extra investment can come into the system to deliver better services and support our doctors and nurses...
"We've said we will guarantee that money, including in NSW, (which has) been a bit doubtful those figures are real.
"This guarantee makes absolutely clear that that money can be banked for our doctors and nurses into the future."
Victorian Premier John Brumby in particular has expressed strong opposition to Mr Rudd's health reform proposal, however Ms Roxon believes the guaranteed $15.6 billion will ease his concerns.
Call for public vote
"It's a pretty big call for a premier to make to walk away from extra money for more doctors, extra money into aged care, extra money to ensure that people can be seen more quickly in emergency departments or elective surgery more quickly," she said.
If an agreement on the reforms is not reached on Monday, however, a referendum is imminent, Ms Roxon added.
"This meeting today is crunch time," she said. "We want to be able to deliver on reform.
"If (reform) is not agreed today, the consequences are that we will be going to a referendum, where the public will have a chance to say whether they would like to see these reforms introduced," she said.
But if agreement seemed close, the meeting would continue overnight if necessary, Ms Roxon said.
