media releases

Thirty six percent of sick Australians tell us that they don’t get medical help because it costs too much, according to the latest research from the Commonwealth Fund. That was in 1998. What has the Government done to change that very sad fact? Where is the commitment to strengthening our public health system rather than pretending that our expensive privatized health system will sort out the problems?

Care for the sickest in the community is being ignored, whether it’s the mentally ill, or those with no teeth, or those who can’t afford to see the doctor or simply can’t find a doctor. We have a health system designed to help those who can afford to pay. The proposed reforms ignore the fact that Medicare, fails miserably to provide universal access. In terms of access to affordable health care, we rate at the bottom of the Commonwealth Fund survey, just as bad as the US. In Australia the most needy miss out. The least needy get as much high quality health care as they need as soon as they want it.

We have a flawed system, a reliance on private provision of services through individual doctors and other health professionals. Such a system will never look after the most needy. It simply isn’t profitable. The business model doesn’t work. Health care provision is not addressed through market forces.

Public hospitals if adequately funded, can provide services for all. But the Rudd Government refuses to fund hospitals adequately. GP and specialist care in the community could provide affordable and accessible services for all if the Government is really interested enough in ‘a fair go’, and willing to move away from private fee for service, small, profit making businesses, towards a health system where public service and care for patients is the first priority. It does mean taking on vested interests, but it’s all about ‘a fair go’. Do they care?

Dr Tim Woodruff
President
Doctors Reform Society

Dr Con Costa
Vice President
Doctors Reform Society

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