Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2025–26
The rules that govern how Australia's public hospitals are funded have a direct effect on the health of people with intellectual disability and on how they experience health services.
The Centre has written to IHACPA, the independent authority that manages these rules for how hospitals are funded.
The complex health needs of people with intellectual disability are not well understood by people working in hospitals. This has led to health outcomes for people with intellectual disability being far worse than for the general population. They are also over-represented in hospitals and their care is much more expensive and much less efficient than it should be.
The Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services lays out the rules for how hospitals are funded. These rules do not recognise the complex health needs of people with intellectual disability. This makes their experience of the health system and their health outcomes worse.
The Centre recommended that for people with intellectual disability to have better experiences in hospital and better health outcomes, the Pricing Framework should:
- Make incentives for hospitals to work with people with intellectual disability and their supports when they first contact the hospital and when planning discharge.
- Change the funding system to allow for people with intellectual disability who have complex needs to have their needs met in hospital.
- Include Activity Based Funding to ensure that more is done on the things that lead to better health experiences and outcomes for people with intellectual disability.
