Tag Archives: National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission

A query about the Medicare Select proposal

September 28, 2009 – 9:38 pm

Further to the previous Croakey post on the Medicare Select proposal, health policy Jennifer Doggett has some questions.
She writes:
“The Inside Story article is great – it really brings out some of the complexities of this issue and the unresolved issues in the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission recommendation. I hope it gets read [...]

By Croakey | Posted in Media-related issues, health reform, private health insurance | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

What is Medicare Select anyway?

September 28, 2009 – 12:30 pm

When the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s final report was released, one recommendation was that the Federal Government explore the feasibility of transforming Medicare into a managed competition model of health insurance, called Medicare Select.
Not long afterwards, I asked a contact, whose opinion I value, for his view of the proposal.
He replied:
I had a [...]

By Croakey | Posted in health reform | Also tagged , , , | Comments (1)

How can we put all health interventions on an equal footing? A Croakey survey

September 8, 2009 – 11:30 am

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s final report made many suggestions requiring much more work if they are ever to have any chance of implementation. Consultancies must be rubbing their hands in anticipation of the business that health reform will generate.
Here at Croakey, we thought we’d do our bit to save the public [...]

By Croakey | Posted in Health inequalities, evidence-based issues, health reform, obesity, pharmaceutical industry, prevention, public health | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Whose thinking really counted, with the Medicare Select proposal?

July 31, 2009 – 7:13 pm

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission received several hundred submissions and commissioned 24 discussion papers, one background paper and published 15 reports of consultations.
Out of all that input, it might be interesting to look at whose views really counted, when it came to developing one of the most contentious recommendations, for Medicare Select.
The Commissioners [...]

By Croakey | Posted in Uncategorized, health reform | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Why health reform will be big business for consultants

July 31, 2009 – 5:57 pm

If the Feds accept the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s recommendation that they take over primary health care, the consultancy business can expect a major windfall.
You can get just an inkling of this from P 114:
“We anticipate that the Commonwealth Government would need to spend considerable time doing the equivalent of a ‘stocktake’ [...]

By Croakey | Posted in health reform | Also tagged | Comments (0)

John Menadue’s advice for Rudd and Roxon on health reform

July 31, 2009 – 3:53 pm

John Menadue was not overly optimistic about the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report before its release, as he wrote in Crikey last week. Now that he’s had a chance to read the report, here is his assessment:
“The Government would be wise to take six months to digest the National Health and Hospitals Reform [...]

By Croakey | Posted in health reform | Also tagged , | Comments (1)

Quoteable quotes, interesting snippets – and some oddities

July 31, 2009 – 12:39 pm

Continuing on from the previous post, my reading of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report has yielded some quoteable quotes, interesting snippets and a few oddball moments.
Quotes and snippets:
“This opportunity for major health reform is rare and highly anticipated. There is a unified call for action from the health industry and those it [...]

By Croakey | Posted in health reform | Also tagged | Comments (0)

Some other NHHRC recommendations that haven’t had so much press

July 31, 2009 – 12:25 pm

Finally, I’ve had a chance to read the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report from cover to cover. Here are a few of its recommendations that I thought worth mentioning that haven’t had much press or discussion yet.
• There should be a common national approach to evaluating all health interventions, with consistent evaluation of [...]

By Croakey | Posted in complementary medicines, health reform, quality and safety of health care | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Fine print alert for those concerned about Aboriginal and rural health, and Medicare’s future

July 30, 2009 – 9:11 pm

Thanks to the Croakey reader who has clearly been meticulous in their reading of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report, and has written to sound the alarm that Aboriginal people are not included in the proposal for under-served remote and rural communities to receive top-up funding.
The top-up is aimed at overcoming the [...]

By Croakey | Posted in Indigenous health, health reform, rural and remote health | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Aboriginal health recommendations need a lot more work: NACCHO

July 29, 2009 – 4:29 pm

There are a few inconsistencies in the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report. It puts great emphasis on maintaining the role of private health insurance, for example, while also acknowledging that “there are increasing concerns that a two-tiered health system is evolving, in which people without private health insurance have unacceptable delays in access [...]

By Croakey | Posted in Indigenous health, health reform | Also tagged , | Comments (3)