AUSactive's Barrie Elvish slams Federal Government's Medicare injection

AUSactive Chief Executive Barrie Elvish has taken aim at the Federal Government’s weekend announcement of an additional $8.5 billion injection into Medicare account - quickly endorsed by the Coalition - likening the funding to “applying a Band-Aid to repair a broken leg”.

Commenting after the weekend announcement, Elvish advised “at first glance this seems a reasonable investment (and election pitch) in improving the health and wellbeing of Australians while simultaneously easing the ‘cost of living pressures’ we constantly hear about, but in reality it’s just kicking the can down the road.

“As an undergraduate studying Economics 101 I don’t remember a lot but one message stood out loud and clear - every economic challenge has two interrelated factors, supply and demand.

“It seems our economists in (the Federal Departments of) Treasury and Health are fixated in attacking solely the supply factor whereas investing in prevention and keeping people out of the health system and thereby reducing demand would deliver compound benefits.”

Elvish presented evidence that “the economics of exercise are compelling”.

60% of Australians are overweight or obese, 75% fail to meet physical activity guidelines and inactivity costs the economy $14.1B annually. Workplace burnout and mental health issues cost between $12.2 and $22.5B including absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost productivity.

Sydney University preventive health advocate and physician, Professor Luigi Fontana, estimates focusing on prevention over treatment could save Australia $30 billion annually.

The total annual health budget is about $124 billion, but less than $2 billion is directed towards preventive health, with the majority going to Sport.

Yet the government’s own Health Policy Papers recommend increasing preventive health expenditure from the current 1% to 5% by 2030 acknowledging that for every $1 invested in preventive health, there’s a $14.30 return. Imagine the savings to taxpayers generated by this investment.

Demonstrating the Economics of Exercise AUSactive’s Active Body, Healthy Mind Budget submission calls on the Federal Government for:

• Means-tested Physical Activity Vouchers; annual vouchers valued between $500 and $1,000, means-tested per adult, to remove financial barriers to physical activity. Data shows that cost is the most significant barrier for 72% of non-health club users in Australia. Research shows even a 10% reduction in health club membership fees could increase health clubs’ participation from 23% to 35%, generating $425 million in healthcare savings and $913 million in productivity gains. This would also prevent 59,000 disease cases, boost consumer spending by $1.5 billion, and create 31,300 new jobs.

• FBT Tax Reform for Workplace Health; to bolster small businesses and increase workforce productivity, remove existing workplace discrimination that results in some employers being able support their staff’s physical wellbeing without being liable for fringe benefits tax (FBT), while others cannot. Exempting health club memberships from FBT universally would align with preventive health strategies and also support small businesses and boost workplace productivity and support small businesses. The original FBT legislation comparing bending an elbow in a pub to bending an elbow with a barbell in a gym was ludicrous, it’s absurd that taxpayers can claim deductions for donations to health organisations but not for proactively improving their own health through gym memberships.

• Preventive Health spending; boost preventive health funding from 2% to 5% of the $124B health budget in line with the government’s National Preventive Health Strategy.

• National Health Campaign; a national public preventative health campaign akin to ‘Slip Slop Slap’ encouraging Australians to get off their backsides and move. A robust preventative health strategy running over five or so years would give the bean counters time to see budget savings flowing through, save lives, improve mental health, and slash billions in healthcare costs.

Research shows that physically active individuals:

• Are 15% less likely to develop depression

• Have a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease

• Have a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes

• Research by Professor Brendan Stubbs in the ASICS Global State of Mind study shows exercise can boost mental well-being and increase productivity by 22.5%

Elvish added “our government - whichever one wins the election - needs to ‘walk the prevention talk’.

“It’s time to stop being a nation of spectators and become participants.”

Images: AUSactive Chief Executive Barrie Elvish (top) and in 2023 and 2024 AUSactive engaged Federal Parliamentarians in its Fit for Office campaign (below).