Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Squamish Nation councillor Khelsilem hold a ceremonial paddle after a groundbreaking ceremony at the First Nation’s Sen̓áḵw housing development site in Vancouver in September 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
By starting their own entrepreneurial and developmental projects, First Nations are working toward economic prosperity for their communities and furthering reconciliation.
It can be hard to work out what calculations to make when deciding on private health. So we asked a health economist to break it down.
Alberta Minister of Health Tyler Shandro speaks during a press conference in Calgary on May 29, 2020. The Alberta government is proposing legislation to accelerate approvals of private clinics in order to get more surgeries done.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Recent Alberta legislation increasing privatization in the health sector risks undermining the public health-care system, and will likely put profits over the public interest.
New private health insurance data show young people are continuing to drop their cover. But the industry’s argument a youth exodus will put pressure on public hospitals isn’t necessarily right.
Those facing large price increases might drop or downgrade their cover.
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In April, private health insurance premiums will increase by an average of 2.92%. It’s the lowest rise in 19 years but still much higher than wages growth. And insurers still make a healthy profit.
Netcare is one of three hospital groups found to dominated the facilities market.
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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.
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.
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.
Australia’s population is in the midst of considerable demographic change, with a proportional rise in older age groups. Medical successes can now save the lives of those who would have died from illnesses…
There is no publicly available, solid evidence to show that such outsourcing generates savings for governments. But it could.
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In the lead-up to the budget on May 13, the Tony Abbott government is looking for ways to make the health dollar go further. In 2011-12 the federal government spent A$14.4 billion on public and private…
Some insurers are testing opportunities to expand their involvement in primary care.
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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…
Are claims about private health costs exaggerated, or right on the money?
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“The changes to lifetime health cover will increase [private health insurance] premiums by up to a reported 27.5%. This is hitting many local residents very hard, with some struggling to find the money…