Health Minister Sussan Ley says the Government will look to find other savings to help fund the MRFF after confirming that the controversial $5 Medicare GP co-payment has been scrapped.
Health Minister Sussan Ley confirmed the decision at a press conference in Canberra earlier today.
In confirming that the Government had scrapped the GP co-payment, which attracted widespread and almost total opposition, Ms Ley was unable to confirm how the decision will impact funding to the MRFF.
However, she restated the Government's commitment to the MRFF, suggesting that other health-related savings could be used to address the new shortfall.
Scrapping the co-payment will cost the Budget around $900 million over the next four years.
Under the MRFF, all health-related savings announced in last year's Budget were directed towards its creation. The Government had announced the MRFF as a $20 billion medical research endowment fund, which would provide annual additional funding for medical research of around $1 billion from 2020.
The fate of other savings measures announced in the Budget, including the increase in PBS co-payments and safety net thresholds, remains unclear.
AusBiotech has been a strong backer of the MRFF, including under the auspices of the MRFF Action Group, a cross-section of stakeholders including patient groups, medical research and industry bodies.