Rethinking private health: what Australia can learn from abroad
This is the third of three articles examining the value private health insurance and private healthcare bring to the Australian health system.
Luke Slawomirski is a health economist and former clinician. He has worked for State and Commonwealth governments, and the OECD in Paris. He is a Visiting Lecturer at Imperial College London and is completing a PhD with the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania.
This is the third of three articles examining the value private health insurance and private healthcare bring to the Australian health system.
This is the second of three articles examining the value private health insurance and private healthcare bring to the Australian health system.
This is the first of three articles examining the value private health insurance and private healthcare bring to the Australian healthcare system.
In a new ad campaign, a mining lobby group claims that mining companies pay “enough tax to fund Medicare.” This is not true. Over the past ten years, the total cost of Medicare was $322 billion, while the mining industry paid $228 billion in tax, a gap of some $94 billion.
The Four Corners program aired on Monday night detailed how Melbourne gynaecologist Simon Gordon performed surgeries to remove the ovaries and uteruses of dozens of young women who did not need these highly invasive and life-changing procedures. But beyond these shocking examples, Australia has a widespread problem with unnecessary and inappropriate medical interventions.
The 78% fee increase since 2010 shows that specialists are simply charging what the market will bear.
Australia’s health system is beginning to resemble the US. We must change course
