Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with state and territory leaders to consider a plan to solve challenges within Australia's healthcare system.
Premiers and chief ministers will meet Mr Albanese in Canberra on Friday for the first national cabinet meeting of the year, after he hosted dinner at the Lodge on Thursday night.
At the top of the agenda will be the findings of a review by the Medicare task force on measures to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility, support Australians with chronic health conditions and take pressure off hospitals.
Leaders will also be updated on Closing the Gap measures, energy priorities, national firearms reform, local government and housing.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the Medicare advisory group had recommended measures to improve access to health care and deliver better patient support.
"Australians deserve access to a primary care system for the 21st century," he said.
"A system that reflects the disease profile of an older population, including a population that has more complex chronic disease."
Ahead of the meeting, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet called for new ways to address challenges such as long wait times and decreasing staff numbers.
"The first thing is we need to better integrate the primary care, GP network with the public health system ... right across the country," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
Mr Perrottet said it was important for all levels of government to start with the best policies, rather than focus on a specific dollar amount.
"Whether it's pharmacy reform, telehealth, extra bulk-billing rates and GPs, these are the types of measures that will make a real difference and that's what I'll be discussing with the premiers, chief ministers and the prime minister," he said.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners called on leaders to put patients first in Medicare reforms.
The college's president Nicole Higgins said improving costs and access to medicines must be on the table, as well as reforming anti-competitive pharmacy laws.
"The Medicare task force review is about improving access to care for patients and we need to consider everything as part of this," she said.
"Australia's pharmacy ownership laws are anti-competitive and this inflates the cost to consumers, makes it harder for people to access medicines and reduces choice."
© AAP 2023