Federal and state governments have finally resolved their long-running standoff on public hospital funding.

The deal struck at National Cabinet on Friday includes a A$25 billion boost to hospital funding, and state government commitments on disability services for children.

But while public hospitals will get more money, there’s no clear plan to manage surging costs and rising demand.

Let’s take a look at what’s been agreed, and what’s still missing.

The states run public hospitals, but both the federal government and the states fund them. Since 2011, a series of deals called National Health Reform Agreements has set out how that funding works.

From 2017, under the second five-year agreement, federal spending growth was capped at 6.5%. That has left the states paying for around three quarters of cost growth since then.

In December 2023, National Cabinet committed to reversing that trend. The federal government agreed to increase its share of spending from around 40% to 42.5% by 2030, and then to 45% by 2035.

The plan also tied hospital funding to progress on disability reforms, including states delivering foundational supports outside the NDIS.

But when the 2020........

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