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Articles on Health policy

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Government spending is already targeted toward poorer households. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

Making the rich pay more isn’t the answer to a better Medicare

Should the rich pay more for their health care? This question has raised its ugly head again after health minister Peter Dutton announced the Coalition government was considering more user-pays options…
Four of the five members of the Commission of Audit during a Senate hearing at Parliament House in January. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Commission of Audit should know costs but appreciate value

The Senate Select Committee into the Commission of Audit is holding its third Hearing in Canberra today. Witnesses include the Consumers Health Forum and Australian Health and Hospitals Association, so…
Big announcements aren’t the answer – the health system needs a long-term plan. AAP Image/Quentin Jones

Mr Abbott, make 2014 a year of health reform, not regression

This year is crunch time for Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s health policies. The financing and policy changes from the Rudd-Gillard government are finally taking effect and the National Commission of Audit…
Medicare guarantees free public hospital care and funds a range of primary care and other health services. Image from shutterstock.com

Explainer: what is Medicare and how does it work?

Medicare is Australia’s universal health scheme. It is a Commonwealth government program that guarantees all citizens (and some overseas visitors) access to a wide range of health services at little or…
Some Australians are struggling to get timely access to affordable health care. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

Medicare turns 30 and begins to show signs of ageing

Tomorrow marks an important Australian milestone: 30 years of Medicare and the guarantee of universal access to health care. Before Medicare, it was not that uncommon for people to avoid using health-care…
Some insurers are testing opportunities to expand their involvement in primary care. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Balancing public and private as health insurers move into primary care

Prompted by the government’s Commission of Audit, health policy analysts have spent the first weeks of the year vigorously debating ways to rein in Australia’s rising health budget and to make the system…
Medicare Locals plan for better, tailored health services by drawing on local knowledge. Image from shutterstock.com

Let Medicare Locals find their feet and improve primary care

Primary health care in Australia is a messy beast, with many heads and all sorts of body parts. But it’s centrally important because it plays a major role in achieving public health outcomes, such as better…
An identical patient with an identical presenting symptom of ‘tension headache’ might lead to a thousand different discussions. DIBP images

GP consultations are often more complicated than you think

When we think of what defines a medical consultation, we quite reasonably think of the “presenting complaint”: the medical problem which the patient brings to the doctor. In movies, literature, common…
Co-payments are an unfair tool for reducing health costs. Alex E. Proimos

Six dollar co-payment to see a doctor: a GP’s view

As a GP, when I prescribe a drug, I need to know its likely benefits and risks, and I need to base my decision-making on the best available evidence. I’d like to think the same principle applies to the…
Innovative health policy solutions could help the health budget and improve patients’ health. Image from shutterstock.com

Paying doctors to keep patients healthy – if the price is right

Consensus and evidence suggests a compulsory co-payment of A$6 for a visit to the general practitioner will reduce population health but might save some money. Can we not try a bit harder and think of…
The financial pain of a A$6 co-payment won’t increase health literacy or self-management. Image from shutterstock.com

Mind the gap: $6 GP visit proposal ignores the evidence

Incremental creep and massive holes in universal health coverage (think dental care) have left many Australians questioning whether there’s any such thing as “free health care”. One recent study estimated…
Governments setting out to control spending, or move it in more efficient directions, must have strong backbones. AAP Image/David Crosling

Securing Australia’s future: health care

SECURING AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE: As the Commission of Audit reviews government activity and spending, The Conversation’s experts take a closer look at key policy areas tied to this funding – what’s working…
Peter Dutton and Tanya Plibersek at the National Press Club where, like the rest of the campaign, the parties seemed to vie to be blander. Penny Bradfield/AAP

Bland is best? Bipartisan health platform left no room for policy

The dictionary has many words that could describe health policy in the 2013 federal election campaign – anodyne, soporific and vapid all come to mind. Australia’s health policy problems cannot afford the…
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during a visit to St Vincents Hospital in Sydney, on the day the Coalition released its health policy. Alan Porritt/AAP

Coalition health policy is all barbs and no risks

The Coalition’s Policy to Support Australia’s Health System is a cautious document, despite shadow health minister Peter Dutton’s promise of a “cracker of a health policy”. Tony Abbott set the scene at…
This is one of the first elections in decades where health isn’t a headline issue. Image from shutterstock.com

Election 2013 Issues: How we live and die

Welcome to the The Conversation’s Election 2013 State of the Nation essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
Dementia prevalence down but not out. Flickr/Sparkle Glowplug

Dementia stats down but postcode lottery drives uneven care

Dementia has been described as a ticking time bomb, with the number of those affected predicted to double in the next two decades. But a new study suggests that the prevalence of people with dementia in…
Not carpet bombs, but competition.. Pixabay/LoboStudioHamburg

If anything, the NHS should be carpeted with more competition

David Nicholson, the retiring Chief Executive of NHS England, has warned against what he called “carpet bombing” the NHS with competition. For him, and others, less focus on competition is a good thing…
The key question is whether the new prime minister regards the hospital system as having been fixed. AAP Image/David Crosling

Will the buck stop with Rudd on fixing the hospital system?

One of the key platforms of the first Rudd government was to reform the health and hospital system. The key message from then-prime minister Kevin Rudd was that the health, and particularly hospitals…
Passions run high when it comes to the NHS but despite some unprecedented challenges it will do what it always does - survive. PA

Despite the difficulties, the NHS is not dead yet

The NHS in 2013 is facing a series of unprecedented challenges. A rapidly ageing population is just one of a number of factors fuelling a rise in demand for services and hospitals are struggling to cope…

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