The benefits of a sugar tax go beyond mere health savings when obesity rates drop. Our new research predicts wider economic benefits due to more, healthier people in work.
While we must put in place effective measures to protect against the malicious use of personal data, not using the information collected about Australians comes at a cost.
Leaked documents of a secret ‘taskforce’ to reform public hospital funding reveal some controversial proposals. So how are hospitals funded and why might this need changing?
The fund is nothing more than a rebadging exercise in the hope people might think it is a new policy. And it’s being used to airbrush public hospitals out of the Medicare picture.
Australia is spending more than A$500 million a year too much for pharmaceuticals because of a little known loophole that allows drug companies to overcharge the government.
The latest Productivity Commission health report reveals some serious problems with out-of-pocket health expenses as well as disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health.
Nursing home providers looking to cut costs are bypassing registered nurses and employing less-skilled personal care attendants (PCAs) who aren’t trained for the job.
For real reform to Medicare’s fee-for-service payments model, we need to look for more innovative solutions to how we pay for health care. These can be found in an unlikely place: the United States.
People ending up in hospital for diabetes, tooth decay, or other conditions that should be treatable or manageable out of hospital is a warning sign of system failure.
The government must do more to deliver a 21st-century health system – not just to improve its standing with voters but to meet the health needs of all Australians.
Health policy was an important factor in the election outcome, but one of the most important issues in the health sector – the impact of out-of-pocket costs – was mostly ignored.
Scare campaigns only work if there is some anxiety to build on. Labor’s Medicare campaign plugged into a long history of Coalition ambivalence – or open hostility – towards Medicare.
The greater threats to our national public health system lie in the increasing role of consumer co-payments and the power of vested interests that stifle policy innovation in health.
The AMA has campaigned heavily on the Medicare rebate freeze, pointing out its potential impact on patient access if out-of-pocket costs were to increase.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne