Category: Health

It is time to police family violence perpetrators as rigorously as we police terrorists. We can learn from the country’s successes in counter-terrorism work and perhaps apply some lessons to the family violence challenges. (more…)

Each year two thirds of applications for a Disability Support Pension are rejected; a rejection rate which has doubled in 8 years (Christopher Knaus, Guardian, 8 June 2018). (more…)

Class warfare has been with us forever. It could be called a fight for social justice. Indeed, it would seem to be integral to the stepwise progress we have made over centuries as we have moved to a society which outlaws overt slavery, has a moderately progressive tax system, provides a wide range of public services, and has a variety of safety nets, all combining in the aim to be a civilised society. (more…)

The heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup puts Portugal on the world stage. But behind the bright lights of the soccer World Cup, Portugal is leading the world in another arena: its efforts to curb drug abuse.   (more…)

Government contributions to medical fees are set out in a large book of rules. It is under review. But are rules for individual fees for individual services the way to go? Fee-for-service may be running out of date. (more…)

Without acceptance of a ten year plan and the creation of an instrument to implement that plan we will not be able to engineer the evidence based structural reforms to our health care system that will improve quality, equity and cost effectiveness. (more…)

Editor: Jennifer DoggettAuthor: Louisa Gordon (introduction by Jennifer Doggett)on: June 13, 2018In: Co-payments, health financing and costs, Healthcare and health reform

Out-of-pocket health costs (OOPs) are a major challenge facing the Australian health system.  Australians pay for a higher proportion of total health care in OOPs than do citizens of almost all OECD countries. In fact, OOPs are the third largest funder of health care in Australia, after Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments.

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Without acceptance of a ten year plan and the creation of an instrument to implement that plan, we will not be able to engineer the evidence-based structural reforms to our health care system that will improve quality, equity and cost effectiveness.  (more…)

Touted by Minister Hunt as the biggest health care reform initiative since the introduction of Medicare, the “Health Care Home” model for the better management of patients with two or more chronic diseases is floundering, beset with predictable organisational and resource inadequacies. As is so often (too often) the case with health policy initiatives, a laudable concept collapses at the implementation phase (e.g. Primary Health Networks). The boldness of the plan is not matched by the necessary resource boldness.   (more…)

A single tweet put Monday night’s Four Corners episode into perspective for me. I’d been trying to put my finger on what seemed out of kilter with the whole segment and there it was: the program had virtually ignored the bedrock of Australian health care, the public hospital system. (more…)

Prevention, out-of-pocket costs, and oral health. 
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On May 3, Health Minister Greg Hunt spoke at a conference organised by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. This is the pharmacy owners association (all pharmacists) which in 2011, notoriously, entered into a deal with the vitamin and supplement provider, Blackmores, to have 5000 pharmacies try and sell a Blackmores’ product to clients picking up prescription medicines. Once revealed the subsequent opprobrium, of course, resulted in the deal being cancelled. (more…)

Last week, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation imposed a record fine, of $300,000, on Crown Casino. The fine, and a letter of censure, were imposed following revelations that Crown employees had ‘tampered’ with electronic gambling machines (EGMs, also known as pokies) by removing buttons from some of them. The effect of this was to reduce the available betting options, encouraging gamblers to bet more than they may have intended. Crown denied this was ‘deliberate’, blaming the unauthorized actions of a group of employees; and disputed whether it breached regulations. Nonetheless, in a statement, they copped the penalty. (more…)

Drug policy in Australia has been debated for decades but doesn’t seem to be getting close to resolution. However some progress is being made. Examples include the Victorian government’s decision in 2017 to establish a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Melbourne and the ACT government’s in principle decision in 2017 to allow a trial of pill testing. Social policy reform is always slow. The drug policy debate has some particular characteristics that make it especially difficult.   (more…)

Medical homes, where you as a patient are known personally by name and history and where a team of health professionals, generally led by a general practitioner, arrange and provide your care, have not taken off as expected. Why?  (more…)

Never before has a tax been such an instant success. I am talking about what happened in Britain last Friday. That’s when new so-called sugar tax sprung into life, with much of its work already done.

The whole idea was to cut the consumption of sugar, something we have just as much need to do here, given that our rates of obesity are on a par with those in Britain – an outrage that will prevent many of us living long lives. (more…)

The anguish expressed by many of the 1,200 respondents to the Consumers Health Forum’s Out of Pocket Pain survey highlights the widening gulf between the cost of modern medical care and the struggle of many Australians to pay for that care. (more…)

A recent post at Croakey highlighted the major findings of the Australian Law Reform Commission’ s Pathways to Justice report on the over-incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The report was tabled in parliament last week and is awaiting a detailed response from government.

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The inequities in the status of oral health in Australia are appalling because of a lack of political will and a resistance to recognising that all Australians deserve to receive adequate dental care. This resistance is rooted in the elitism of those in power, the belief that if one can’t earn an adequate income, then second rate access to dental care is one’s lot. (more…)

Writing last Thursday in the Conversation about the South African cricket scandal, Michelle Grattan pointed to politicians “who would prefer to overlook awkward parallels with conduct in politics – for instance the endemic tampering with the ball of truth.”  (more…)

Last week Australia21, (www.australia21.org.au ), hosted a summit of experts on drug treatment, drug law and the social impact of drug use in Australia. 

The signatories included a former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, people who have been actively engaged in research into alcohol and drug use for periods as long as 40 years, researchers into the criminal justice system, prisoner rehabilitation, domestic violence and child protection, as well as church agencies working in various aspects of the welfare space.  (more…)

Tips on negotiating with your doctor and shopping around for a surgeon who doesn’t charge excessively. (more…)