Posted by editorial from The Age on March 19, 1999 at 23:17:48:
Editorial Opinion 18 March 1999 from THE AGE
Tinkering at the edges on health
Late-joining penalties will not cure health insurance problems.
EITHER private health insurance is the same as any other business or it is not. If it
is, then the Federal Government's $1.7billion-a-year rebate to help stop the slide in
membership of private health funds was not appropriate. If it is not a normal
business - and we would argue that it is not - then it is the Government's support for
a plan to make it costlier for older people who join private health insurance funds
that is inappropriate. Community rating - designed to ensure that, unlike other
insurance companies, health insurance funds do not discriminate on the basis of age
or illness - has been a foundation of Australia's health insurance system. Now the
Government is considering a proposal from the Health Department to encourage
younger people to take out private health insurance by making premiums
progressively more expensive. Those who put off joining until they are 75 would pay
twice as much as those who join at 35.
The plan is superficially appealing. Why should those who have contributed all their
adult lives not receive a greater economic benefit than those who join only in their
last few years? However, the first thing that must be said about the proposal is that it
is unlikely to persuade many young and healthy people, disinclined as they are to
worry about a future in which their health needs may be greater, to join private
funds. Second, it would make access to health care more difficult for less wealthy
older people who simply may not have been able to afford private health cover
when they were younger.
Australia's health care system is not in crisis. We have been able to maintain an
adequate health safety net while allocating less than 9per cent of gross domestic
product to health care. (The United States, which spends 15per cent of its GDP on
health, still does not provide universal care.) However, the system is under pressure,
and these pressures will increase as a result of our rapidly ageing population, the
ability of medical science to prolong life and the temptation for litigation-conscious
doctors to overuse the technology. So far, the response of government has been to
introduce adhoc measures that will not solve the problems in the long term. What is
needed is a comprehensive inquiry that will examine all aspects of the health system
and recommend ways to deliver it. Medicare appears to be universally popular.
Who knows, the electorate may even be prepared to pay more for it. One thing that
should not be compromised is the ability of everyone, regardless of age or income,
to receive medical care when they need it.