State and territory leaders will meet in Sydney today to nut out solutions to health and education funding gaps. But what exactly is the problem they’re hoping to address?
Gagging clauses in contracts permit purchasers of research to modify, substantially delay, or prohibit the reporting of findings.
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Government departments often commission research to help them understand and respond to policy issues. But they impose contract conditions that threaten to undermine the integrity of the work.
Public hospital funding is in a critical condition.
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Any health reform proposals should start by addressing public hospitals and chronic care. But successful change in these areas requires getting the state-Commonwealth funding and incentives right.
Who are these people?
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If there is an important issue, chances are there is federal advisory committee for it. With over 1,000 such committees in operation at any given time, it is worth understanding how they work.
Billions were expected to be saved from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – but surprisingly the budget only outlines $252 million in savings.
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The big surprise about this year’s health budget was what wasn’t there – billions of dollars in expected savings from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The Greens pledge to spend more on health care than any other party.
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The plan to withhold payments of child-care and family tax benefits for unvaccinated children could cost non-compliant parents up to A$15,000 a year. But is it ethical to punish parents?
The government is effectively undermining the power of Medicare as a single payer and the role of Medicare as a universal provider.
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In the final instalment of our series, Lesley Russell asks whether Australians need private health insurance, and what a two-tiered systems means for quality, access and equity.
Doctors will be asking: am I needed here?
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Plaid Cyrmu’s manifesto promises greater expenditure, but at what cost?
Medicare and private health insurance partly overlap for hospital entitlements. But nobody can purchase full coverage for health-care costs.
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Private insurance, by its very nature, suppresses price signals and encourages over-servicing and cost escalation.
The relationship between private health insurance and Medicare has been a problem since the Whitlam government introduced universal health care.
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Some people balk at the cost of private insurance – especially the relatively young and healthy – because they don’t see the value of it when they are already covered under Medicare.
The half of Australians who have private health insurance will be face higher bills from Wednesday, as insurance premiums increase by an industry average of 6.18%.
Dental care is the most-used private health insurance ancillary service.
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne