Health

• OPINION

  The latest debate about private health exposes that our health system is not as universal as we think

  Luke Slawomirski

  The Albanese Government’s attempt to have taxpayers stop paying so much for private health insurance sparked all kinds of talk about premiums, pensioners and pressure on public hospitals. But more importantly, it has exposed a much bigger problem with Australian healthcare.

  

  Society & InequalityHealth

  

• WHAT'S NEW

  Jacqui Lambie turns One Nation cartoon into call to break stigma around prolapse

  By Tegan George

  Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has turned a One Nation cartoon mocking her vaginal prolapse into a renewed call to break the stigma surrounding a common women’s health condition.

  Health

  

• OPINION

  Australia is exhibiting some of the worst traits of the US health system

  Luke Slawomirski

  Australia’s health system is exhibiting some of the worst traits of its American counterpart. We spend heavily once people are sick. Over the longer term, spending on hospitals has grown faster than spending on primary care and prevention.

  

  Society & InequalityHealth

  

• OPINION

  The government is finally looking at excessive specialist fees, but it could go further

  Luke Slawomirski

  The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has released a consultation paper on excessive specialist fees. The paper can be boiled down to a simple question: when a specialist charges far more than their peers, or far more than the Medicare schedule fee, could government do anything about it? The answer is yes.

  

  Society & InequalityHealth

  

• OPINION

  Raising the rate of JobSeeker would save lives

  Charmaine Crowe

  For decades, successive governments have kept unemployment payments in Australia below all accepted measures of adequacy - JobSeeker now sits at just 41% of the minimum wage, and Youth Allowance is even worse at 34%. The results of this are clear in recent official data on death rates and ACOSS' latest Raise the Rate survey.

  

  Society & InequalityHealth

  

• OPINION

  Why scrapping the extra private health rebate for over-65s won’t necessarily add pressure to public hospitals

  Luke Slawomirski

  It should not be assumed that every private hospital service is essential care that would otherwise have to be performed in a public hospital. Like the public system, private healthcare delivers excellent and necessary care. But it also delivers care of little or uncertain value. Australian research has demonstrated low-value procedures in the private sector.

  

  Society & InequalityHealth

  

• WHAT'S NEW

  Sydney Water to examine whether there is a risk that data centres could release ‘forever chemicals’ into wastewater

  By Tegan George

  Sydney Water will seek expert advice on whether data centres could release “forever chemicals” into the wastewater system after the possibility was raised at a Senate inquiry. The scrutiny comes as Swedish nonprofit ChemSec reported earlier in September that most of the world’s top 10 PFAS producers are planning to expand production, with some framing their investments around the “AI revolution”.

  Society & InequalityArtificial IntelligenceHealth

  

• WHAT'S NEW

  Triple Zero should be brought under government control, Senate inquiry recommends

  By Tegan George

  A Senate inquiry has called on the federal government to consider taking Triple Zero out of Telstra’s hands and placing it under government control in a damning report examining "catastrophic" emergency-call failures.

  Democracy & AccountabilityHealth

  

• PODCASTFollow the Money

  Australia built an illness system, not a health system

  Health

  

  

• OPINION

  Why scrapping the age-based private health insurance rebate makes sense

  Luke Slawomirski

  Older Australians benefit the most from the private health insurance (PHI) rebate. As things stand, Australians aged 65 and over are eligible for an extra, age-based subsidy. It’s worth about four percent extra for people aged 65–69 and eight percent extra for those aged 70 and over. However, earlier this year the government announced it would remove the additional subsidies. If passed, rebates will be based solely on income, not age. 

  

  Society & InequalityHealth