With less than a week to go before the Federal Budget 2013, the leaks and rumours (and rumours about leaks) are increasing and speculation about possible new funding measures is mounting. The following analysis looks at the main items on the wish-lists of eight peak health groups and identifies key issues on which there is [...]
READ MOREHealth spending: patients bearing higher costs
From the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library’s FlagPost blog comes the following excellent overview of the main issues in the current debate on out-of-pocket costs. This piece was written by Amanda Biggs and posted with permission. Recent reports have highlighted the growing cost of health services and the increasing financial burden on individuals. According to data from the Australian [...]
READ MOREQ&A’s Health Debate: the experts respond
Reema Rattan writes: While the federal election is still months away, issues of health funding are already dominating the news. A Grattan Institute report released yesterday, for instance, noted the greatest budgetary pressure facing Australia comes from sustained increases in health costs. Last night, ABC TV’s Q&A featured Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and Shadow Health [...]
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Some important questions about health policy and the federal election (aka your #qanda cheat sheet)
Health policy is up for debate this week thanks to ABC TV’s Q and A program, featuring Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and the Opposition’s health spokesman Peter Dutton. You can pose a question online and see some of the other questions that have already been lodged, including: Large corporate organisations have become major players in [...]
READ MOREA conversation that needs to continue: what to do about the relatively small number of doctors who account for so many patient complaints
The online ecosystem, linking up journals, bloggers, mainstream media and researchers with the wider world, is bringing new opportunities for researchers to hear and learn from the responses to their findings. The article below documents some of the wide-ranging responses to a recent study which found that a small proportion of doctors account for a [...]
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Recommended reading on the history of primary care reform (and what can be learnt from it)
There is some essential new reading for those concerned with primary care and related reforms, according to health policy analyst Jennifer Doggett. In the article below, she reviews Primary Care and General Practice in Australia 1990-2012: A Chronology of Federal Government Strategies, Policies, Programs and Funding, by Dr Lesley Russell from the Australian Primary Health [...]
READ MOREConsumer group calls for a “fundamental shift” in how pharmacy services are funded
Important questions about the governance of the multi-billion dollar agreement between the Federal Government and Pharmacy Guild of Australia (representing pharmacy owners) are raised in the article below. Carol Bennett, CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, argues that the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement - a $15.4 billion investment by taxpayers over five years – fails to meet [...]
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The human toll of governments’ failure to work together: “families get torn apart” in Central Australia
The failure of governments to ensure appropriate services for people with kidney disease in Central Australia was recently highlighted at this blog by the CEO of Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Donna Ah Chee. The post was based upon her speech to the recent launch of the Kidney Action Network, in which she described how many patients [...]
READ MOREWhoops. We don’t really want to hear what you think about private health insurance…
This blog has previously run articles questioning the merits of the private health conference industry – from Kim Webber and Simon Chapman. Now another Croakey contributor, public finance academic Ian McAuley has been in touch about his recent experience with Informa Australia. His article below provides a timely reminder that the health conference business is more [...]
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The National Health Performance Authority’s Primary Care Report
Diane Watson, CEO of the National Health Performance Authority, outlines the key findings from the NHPA’s report into primary care and explains why independent and accurate collection and analysis of health data can empower consumers to drive changes within our health system…. Everybody is interested in health care. Individuals seek it when they need it because it [...]
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