When you enter a public hospital, you are likely to be asked if you have private health insurance, and if you want to use it. This is what you need to consider.
For some people, high out-of-pocket costs makes it difficult to see a doctor or fill a prescription.
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Seeking and making sense of specialist fees is an unfair burden to place on vulnerable patients. A website might be helpful for some – but health professionals need to be held to higher account.
The number of Medicare claims Australians make in a year doubled between 1984 and 2018.
By Sopotnick
Jane Hall, University of Technology Sydney and Kees Van Gool, University of Technology Sydney
Paying doctors a fee for each service they provide isn’t delivering optimal value for the health dollar. Instead, we should pay doctors a lump sum to care for a patient’s medical problem over time.
Premium subsidies encourage Australians to take out and keep private health insurance.
Subsidies for private health insurance premiums cost the government over A$6 billion a year. Is it time to scrap the rebate and redirect these funds elsewhere in the health system?
Treating somebody at risk of developing a mental health disorder may improve their outcomes later on.
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Early intervention is a proven way to address the burden of mental ill health. We just need to better understand who is at risk of developing a mental disorder – and how best to treat them.
Chief Justice John Roberts is shown leaving the Senate chamber during President Trump’s impeachment trial Feb. 5, 2020. Behind him is Lindsay Graham, (R-S.C).
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
The recent fall of Chief Justice John Roberts underscores that falls can happen to anyone. They are a major cause of disability in seniors - but there are some clearcut ways to prevent them.
People ages 50-64 begin to develop chronic conditions for which they need coverage. Doing away with insurance for pre-existing conditions puts this group at risk.
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Stripping away preexisting conditions coverage would have far-reaching effects, but 50- to 64-year-olds are most vulnerable. Ignoring medical issues at that age could mean sicker oldsters later on.
Australia is the only country in the OECD that allows specialists complete freedom to set their own fees. This puts patients at risk – but the government can help protect them.
Medicare exists to ensure all Australians have fair access to health care.
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Poorer children in Australia are less likely to receive their share of Medicare funding, particularly in the first years of life.
Nearly every Canadian family has a wait time story. This is because our system is not designed to provide optimal care for patients with multiple chronic diseases.
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To improve wait times for surgery, Canada needs to fix its health-care system. Developing a national seniors’ strategy would be a good place to start.
Australians are spending a larger proportion of their income on health insurance as premium increases outpace wage growth.
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Fron Jackson-Webb, The Conversation; Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation, and Benjamin Silvester, The Conversation
Private health insurance premiums are set to rise again. These 14 charts (well, technically 10 charts and four tables) look at some of the reasons why health insurance premiums keep going up and up.
Most caregivers today are assisting their relatives. What will happen in the years ahead?
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The demographics, which include declining numbers of adult children free to step up and potentially fewer immigrants, suggest that this big problem society faces will get bigger.
Doctors’ visits can be overwhelming for older people.
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More than 47 million people age 65 and older live in the US, and many need help accessing health care. Here are some questions that grown children should ask their parents’ doctors.
More knowledge about your genetic makeup enables you to make better-informed choices – but at what cost?
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It’s exciting to think we’re on the brink of a genomic revolution in health care. But just because new technology becomes available, it doesn’t mean it should automatically be publicly funded.
Who will be left holding the potato?
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The House just passed its version of the tax plan, which includes about US$1 trillion in cuts for corporations. The question, who will be left holding the potato?
An online therapy session is just as effective for young people as a face-to-face session.
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Bernie Sanders’ single-payer health care plan is bound to be expensive and politically impossible. A simple expansion of Medicare offers a cheaper and more passable path to universal care.
Dissatisfaction with private health insurance policies is growing.
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The AMA are pushing for simplified insurance packages that would see gold, silver and bronze products offered. This won’t solve the overall problem with private health insurance.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne