Stephanie Dalzell

In a plan designed to end Australia's reliance on offshore IV fluids, the federal government will spend $20 million to expand the production facilities of the only local manufacturer of the essential medicine. 

The health minister says a historical quirk is behind why two-thirds of existing and promised Medicare urgent care clinics are in Labor-held seats, and they are committed based on need.

Private health insurance premiums will rise by an average of 3.73 per cent from April, after multiple rounds of negotiations between the federal government and insurers. 

Federal Labor and the Coalition both want to expand the bulk-billing incentive to all Australians, to make nine out of 10 GP visits free by the end of the decade.

New bulk-billing data shows a slight improvement to 77.5 per cent of GP visits being bulk-billed. The Royal Australian College of GPs says it has a plan to restore that rate to pre-COVID levels.

Additional funding for abortion access all but ruled out

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has ordered private health insurers to go back to the drawing board and come up with a more "reasonable" premium increase, as the government tries to fend off a political headache on the eve of a federal election.

Doctors have been urged to reconsider prescribing new patients crucial hormone replacement therapy amid a severe shortage that is leaving some women in a "constant state" of anxiety.

Health Minister Mark Butler has called out "product phoenixing" — when health insurers close existing "gold" policies to new customers, but then introduce new, almost identical policies at a higher cost.

Doctors say they've been forced to ration care as sourcing the essential medicine continues to prove a challenge.