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A new tax on illness
Source: ABC The DrumFirst published: Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Making patients pay out-of-pocket for visits to the doctor is cruel and discriminatory, having most effect on the disadvantaged, writes Tim Woodruff.
A proposal being considered by the Abbott Government to introduce copayments for GP visits is economically dumb in addition to being heartless.
31st Dec 2013
Dental: does the government have a vision
Source: ABC The DrumFirst published: Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Recently a patient came to me for treatment of her rheumatoid arthritis. She’s 42, a single mum with 2 kids, surviving on a pension which she is about to lose as her youngest is 8 years old and budget changes mean she has to work or go on Newstart. Her teeth are terrible. For the last 3 years she has required antibiotics for tooth infections about every 6 months. I can treat her arthritis and there’s a good chance I can get her well enough to go to work, but only a modest chance I can return her to a pain free existence (and that will be with prescription drugs for years). She is one of the 400,000 people on waiting lists for public dental care. Because of her serious dental disease her risk of heart disease may be up to twice normal. There’s even weak evidence suggesting dental disease may play a role in causing her rheumatoid arthritis. Now that she has a chronic disease she can get $4000 of dental work done under the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme (CDDS). Better late than never. Even without that she may be one of those set to benefit from the recent Federal budget announcement of a $350 million package over 3 years to address the appalling waiting list for public dental care.
29th Aug 2012
Overutilisation of health services
Source: CroakeyFirst published: Sunday, April 29, 2012
The consequences of over diagnosis, over investigation, and over treatment in health care systems has dire consequences not only for those individuals subjected to such treatment, but to the rest of the population who look to their health care system for appropriate treatment or management. Thus, as has been said by others, instead of rational use of resources, many are subjected to rationing because politics limits the amount of public funding available and income levels prevent many accessing private care. As one would expect, rationing predominantly affects those who are not rich enough to use the private system or travel from areas of workforce shortage to areas of oversupply.
3rd Jul 2012
A strong public hospital system is the biggest threat to private health insurance
Source: ABC The DrumFirst published: Monday, February 20, 2012
The biggest threat to Private Health Insurance (PHI) and the private hospital industry is a strong public hospital system which has the confidence of the public. The carrot and stick approach of successive governments playing with the PHI rebate and Medicare Levy Surcharge has made little difference to PHI uptake.
29th Apr 2012
Addressing social determinants of health
Source: Determining the Future: A Fair Go & Health for AllFirst published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011
In their final report in 2008, the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) called ‘on the World Health Organisation and all governments to lead global action on the social determinants of health with the aim of achieving health equity.’ (CSDH 2008)
The report of the Commission had three main recommendations.
1. Improve daily living conditions
2. Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources
3. Measure and understand the problem and assess impact of action
20th Feb 2012
Fundholding, fee for service, and mental health reform. are we aiming for equity?
First published: Monday, August 1, 2011
In the May Budget there was a major mental health funding initiative. There were some small cuts to current programs, and significant expansion of others. Two of the programs affected are aimed at providing short term psychological treatment. What do the changes tell us about the direction of Government policy?
24th Aug 2011
Do we really believe in ‘a fair go’?
Source: Online OpinionFirst published: Friday, July 22, 2011
Inequalities in health outcome and health status are very obvious in Australia despite the continuing increase in life expectancy and decline in infant mortality. One could argue that inequalities are inevitable. We are not born equal and we can never have and nor might we want equality. When inequalities are due to potentially remediable differences in our society however, the issue is one of equity. This is an issue of social justice. It is also a reflection of the overall health of our society. Trends over the last decade makes one wonder whether our policy makers and society as a whole are content to simply tackle gross inequity in a piecemeal fashion rather than tackling the much more challenging task of aiming for equity.
1st Aug 2011
Health reform: will patients notice?
Source: Online OpinionFirst published: Friday, July 22, 2011
Health reform was flagged as a major part of the election commitment of Federal Labor when it came to power in 2007. After input from a range of inquiries the Federal Government finally made some proposals which faced substantial resistance particularly from state governments. Following Council of Australian Government (COAG) meeting earlier this year substantial agreement has been reached on what is proposed. It is now being implemented gradually.