Which ASX stocks could benefit from the Fed Budget. Picture Getty
Check Up Budget Edition: Which ASX healthcare stocks will reap benefits from the Budget?
Health & Biotech
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- The Federal Budget delivers billions of dollars funding into healthcare and aged care
- Mental health and Telehealth also received significant funding allocations
- Here are the ASX stocks that could benefit
Medicare, telehealth and mental health funding
After nine long years of cuts and neglect, the Albanese Government is finally delivering critical funding for Medicare.
Last night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced $3.5 billion in bulk billing incentives, which will address the sharp decline in bulk billing over the past few years.
Under the program, GPs will be incentivised to bulk bill more of their patients through a tripling of the fee they receive for bulk billing. This is the largest increase to the bulk billing incentive in the 40-year history of Medicare.
It’s expected to have immediate benefits for more than 11 million Australians, making services like GP consultations, telehealth and video conferences cheaper.
Of the $3.5 billion budget, $951.2 million will be allocated for digital health.
Part of the funds will be used by the Australian Digital Health Agency to upgrade and modernise My Health Record, making it easier for patients and providers to use.
Around $586.9 million will also be spent for improved mental health. This will extend critical services for mentally sick patients, addresses urgent gaps and workforce shortages.
Aged-care funding
The Budget also provided a $12.4 billion investment into the aged care sector.
The funding will see a 15% pay increase for over 250,000 aged care workers in residential aged care and home care from 1 July.
This is the largest ever pay increase for aged care workers, and is expected to help aged care providers attract and retain staff.
It will also help aged care providers meet the requirements for increased care minutes, and having a registered nurse on duty 24/7.
Other changes to be funded by the funds include Labour Agreements that will allow aged care providers to recruit workers from overseas when unable to recruit locally.
ASX stocks to benefit from the Budget
Telehealth, mental health and aged care stocks rallied on Wednesday following the Budget announcement.
Here are the ASX stocks that investors believe could benefit from the 2023-2024 Budget:
ASX telehealth stocks
ASX telehealth stocks that could benefit from the ongoing shift towards telehealth include:
Global Health (ASX:GLH), a company that offers various telehealth solutions including Lifecard – an online facility allowing patients to provide relevant health information directly to their health provider.
Oneview Healthcare (ASX:ONE), which has a platform that helps healthcare workers conduct tele-consulting.
1st Group’s (ASX:1ST) platform capabilities meanwhile include an online directory of telehealth clinics and an appointment booking service.
ASX mental health stocks
A handful of small caps have targeted solutions to monitor mental health.
Cogstate (ASX:CGS) is involved in the validation and commercialisation of digital brain health assessments, and has nabbed a marketing deal with Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai.
Medibio (ASX: MEB) has also developed a self-assessment tool, but it does not just rely on the brain — it also factors in broader biometric changes and personal lifestyle alterations.
US-based firm Limeade (ASX:LME) sells “employee wellness” software. While this could identify mental health problems, its primary aim is to measure employee inclusion, engagement and satisfaction.
ASX aged care stocks
Pure play aged care providers like Regis Healthcare (ASX:REG) and Japara Healthcare (ASX:JHC) would benefit from this Budget.
Telehealth tech plays that focus on the aged care sector could also benefit, and these include:
Intellicare (ASX:ICR), an SaaS telehealth company catering to the senior market, helping seniors to live independently at home, without the presence of caregiver.
PainChek (ASX:PCK) has a clinically validated smartphone app that can measure and detect pain in people who have trouble verbalising it, such as those with dementia.
HSC Technology Group (ASX:HSC) sells wearable devices and sensors (not cameras) to monitor seniors in their home and alert emergency services in the event of a fall or something similar.
Best and worst performing ASX biotechs over the past week
| CODE | COMPANY | PRICE | 1 MONTH RETURN % | 6 MONTH RETURN % | 1 WEEK RETURN % | 1 YEAR RETURN % | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRP | Tissue Repair | 0.28 | 19.15 | 27.27 | -3.45 | -3.45 | $13,098,499 |
| IVX | Invion Ltd | 0.01 | 16.67 | 0.00 | -30.00 | -36.36 | $38,529,793 |
| ONE | Oneview Healthcare | 0.15 | 15.38 | 100.00 | 3.45 | -36.17 | $76,019,072 |
| JTL | Jayex Technology Ltd | 0.01 | 10.00 | -8.33 | 57.14 | 0.00 | $2,812,785 |
| PBP | Probiotec Limited | 2.58 | 7.95 | 7.50 | 21.70 | 14.16 | $208,187,919 |
| HGV | Hygrovest Limited | 0.06 | 5.00 | -1.56 | -12.50 | 5.00 | $13,567,285 |
| CAN | Cann Group Ltd | 0.16 | 3.23 | 6.67 | -31.91 | -46.67 | $62,103,178 |
| RHT | Resonance Health | 0.05 | 2.27 | -18.18 | -30.77 | -54.55 | $19,355,783 |
| VLS | Vita Life Sciences.. | 1.50 | 1.69 | 5.63 | -1.64 | -25.37 | $79,593,826 |
| TLX | Telix Pharmaceutical | 10.92 | 1.25 | 46.51 | 58.65 | 177.03 | $3,374,597,863 |
| CGS | Cogstate Ltd | 1.52 | 1.00 | 0.33 | -16.53 | -16.76 | $286,641,260 |
| ALT | Analytica Limited | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $4,613,801 |
| CMP | Compumedics Limited | 0.15 | 0.00 | 7.14 | -33.33 | -28.57 | $26,574,442 |
| BXN | Bioxyne Ltd | 0.03 | 0.00 | 4.17 | 0.00 | 66.67 | $13,312,908 |
| AMT | Allegra Orthopaedics | 0.07 | 0.00 | 26.79 | -29.00 | -60.56 | $7,416,603 |
| EYE | Nova EYE Medical Ltd | 0.25 | 0.00 | -3.85 | -7.41 | 13.64 | $47,581,973 |
| RNO | Rhinomed Ltd | 0.08 | 0.00 | -8.05 | -27.27 | -55.56 | $22,857,576 |
| ACR | Acrux Limited | 0.05 | 0.00 | -5.26 | -18.18 | -28.00 | $15,527,995 |
| RGS | Regeneus Ltd | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -70.00 | -76.92 | $3,983,680 |
| HXL | Hexima | 0.01 | 0.00 | -26.67 | -38.89 | -96.27 | $1,837,436 |
| CAJ | Capitol Health | 0.28 | 0.00 | 3.70 | -12.50 | -12.50 | $297,786,311 |
| SCU | Stemcell United Ltd | 0.00 | 0.00 | -20.00 | -69.62 | -69.62 | $6,423,649 |
| IRX | Inhalerx Limited | 0.05 | 0.00 | -10.00 | -25.00 | -47.67 | $8,539,513 |
| SOM | SomnoMed Limited | 0.90 | -0.28 | -14.35 | -34.67 | -45.76 | $74,069,587 |
| RCE | Recce Pharmaceutical | 0.62 | -2.36 | 7.83 | -3.13 | -18.42 | $113,191,487 |
| OCC | Orthocell Limited | 0.38 | -3.80 | -2.56 | -8.43 | 7.04 | $74,975,167 |
| BDX | Bcaldiagnostics | 0.09 | -4.44 | 28.36 | 22.86 | -3.37 | $11,704,145 |
| NEU | Neuren Pharmaceut. | 13.48 | -4.94 | 3.61 | 77.37 | 273.41 | $1,739,012,388 |
| IPD | Impedimed Limited | 0.18 | -5.41 | 82.29 | 94.44 | 84.21 | $321,695,772 |
| PGC | Paragon Care Limited | 0.25 | -5.66 | 0.00 | -27.54 | -30.56 | $178,023,401 |
| IMM | Immutep Ltd | 0.24 | -11.32 | 0.00 | -24.19 | -30.88 | $211,030,950 |
| ATX | Amplia Therapeutics | 0.10 | -13.64 | 5.56 | -4.04 | -20.83 | $21,340,609 |
| ADR | Adherium Ltd | 0.00 | -14.29 | -25.00 | -25.00 | -66.67 | $14,989,315 |
| MVP | Medical Developments | 0.82 | -15.46 | -21.90 | -48.91 | -73.21 | $70,770,244 |
| PXS | Pharmaxis Ltd | 0.05 | -18.03 | 13.64 | -25.37 | -44.44 | $38,137,968 |
| TSN | The Sust Nutri Grp | 0.01 | -25.00 | -29.41 | -91.43 | -92.00 | $1,829,918 |
| MEB | Medibio Limited | 0.00 | -33.33 | 0.00 | -33.33 | -75.00 | $6,225,891 |
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