If you have ever wondered why health care is so expensive in the USA, the New Yorker has the answer. It intends to focus on key procedures over the coming months and dissect their component costs to analyse exactly who and what are responsible for the high price of American health care. First stop, colonoscopies. [...]
READ MOREEPPIC Change Highlights Management Problems in Mental Health
In recent years the increased focus on mental health issues and subsequent increases in federal funding, have created an environment where significant change should be possible. However, two years after the federal government proudly focused on mental health in the 2011 budget – Sebastian Rosenberg reminds us that announcing the funding is the easy bit. [...]
READ MOREComparing apples, pears and hips: health rationing at work
In the seventh part of The Conversation’s series Health Rationing, Richard Norman and Rosalie Viney explain the controversial system governments use to decide what will and won’t be covered under Australia’s universal health system. They write: With finite health budgets and the prospect of infinite ways to spend funds, rationing inevitably occurs. But how do policymakers come to decisions [...]
READ MOREHealth funding under the microscope – but what should we pay for?
In the sixth part of The Conversation’s series Health Rationing, Mark Mackay examines the latest think tank blueprint to rein in Australia’s rising health costs. But he warns that before funding models are adjusted, governments must make some tough decisions about the type of health care they’re willing to pay for. He writes: In recent weeks, [...]
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Health sector wish-lists: a pre-Budget round-up
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 MOREWork in the Media? 5 Tests you must take now!
Dr Tim Senior, a GP working in Aboriginal health, provides the following advice for anyone reporting on medical tests (or indeed anyone wanting to understand the media’s reporting of screening and test issues)… “I need a prostate check and a colonoscopy” “Oh. What makes you say that?” “Well, I was listening in 2GB the other [...]
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 MOREIs it time for MindCare?
With strong public support for public insurance schemes such as Medicare and the NDIS, Sebastian Rosenberg proposes a similar insurance system for mental health called MindCare… The decision to now support a Medicare-style levy to pay for the new National Disability Insurance Scheme is partly fired by the difficult budget situation. However it is also [...]
READ MOREPhase out GP consultation fees for a better Medicare
In the fourth part of The Conversation’s series Health Rationing, Peter Sivey, Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics, explains why it might be time to abandon Medicare’s fee-for-service model. He writes: Teachers aren’t paid a fee for each lesson they teach, nor are police officers paid for each arrest they make. [...]
READ MORETough choices: how to rein in Australia’s rising health bill
With health costs rising and costly medical innovations on the horizon, it’s crunch time for health funding. But what are the options to rein in costs, and how can governments make these tough decisions? Stephen Duckett and Cassie McGannon write: Health spending is eating up more and more of government budgets, both state and federal. [...]
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