The true  federal government. agenda on health care is becoming very clear over the last few days, said  Dr Con Costa, National President of the Doctors Reform Society.

"My patients, most of whom rely solely on Medicare and the public hospital system, had been promised by the Prime Minister Mr Howard that he would maintain these systems, but now he says they should take out private health insurance."

The present funding discussions should not be seen as just wrangling amongst politicians or "the usual federal state bickering " as Mr Howard would like to describe it.  There are major implications for the future of  the health system.  These arrangements will cement future funding of public hospitals for a five year period.  All the Premiers united and quite aggressive in their belief that the offered funds are insufficient.  Last night Mr Howard, in response to protests at chronic underfunding of the public health system and the compounding effect of more health cuts in the future, advised all Australians to take out private health insurance.

This is a clear turn around on his promise at the last election that "Medicare stays" and his affirmation that the Liberal Party supports the principles of Medicare and Australia's Public Health System.  The  opposite now appears to be the case with the Prime Minister on national television revealing his ideological belief that Australians should have private health insurance.

Having failed in his attempts to scare our patients into private health cover, the plan now appears to be to force the elderly and the sick  -- and  even the young and the healthy  --  into expensive private health insurance that many can ill afford.

If the Premiers accept an inadequate federal funding package then our patients will be doomed to longer waits in casualty and emergency centres with many turned away.  More ambulances will cruise the streets looking for casualty centres that are not overfull or hospitals that have an available bed.  More mistakes will be made by overworked hospital nurses or residents.

Longer waiting in emergency centres puts the lives of  ALL Australians at risk.  Just ask Kerry Packer, Australia's richest man, who was rushed following a cardiac arrest to the closest public hospital (Liverpool Hospital).

The democratic choice of the great majority of Australians has been for Medicare, a system that gives them good value at a relatively low price because it has controlled medical costs, limits overcharging and has extremely low administrative costs because of its size as a single national payer.   Yet Mr Howard seems determined to destroy this system by further reducing its funding at a time when more and more Australians are choosing it over the failed private health funds.

At the same time a further $1.8 billion boost in funding has gone to the private funds from the taxpayers money with no benefit.  This has simply further impoverished public hospitals.

Reliance on the private health system has been a disaster in the USA.  Yet this is the very private health system that ideologues like Mr Howard would deliver to Australia.

" The premiers know what is at stake as do the major medical bodies.  The unity of Labor and Liberal premiers as well as medical organisations as diverse as the AMA and Doctors Reform Society should send a clear signal to the community that there is a lot more at stake here than
just "the usual state federal wrangling over money" as Mr Howard would have us believe.  Unfortunately many of our patients may not realise how bad this is, how serious are the implications  until they need urgent medical attention"
said Dr Costa.

Dr Con COSTA
National President
Doctors Reform Society
21 Mar 1998

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