Health
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The power of vested interests and why drugs cost so much in Australia. John Menadue
Why does the widely used cholesterol reducing drug Atorvastatin cost $A19 in Australia and $A2 for the same package in NZ? Why does the widely used cancer drug Anastrozole cost $A92 in Australia when the equivalent drug in the UK costs $A3.30. The answer is the political power of Medicines Australia and how it twists… Continue reading »
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Health workforce reform. Prof Peter Brooks
As we draw to the end of the holiday period and contemplate the challenges for us in 2014 we might take a moment to think about the big questions in health. We are continually reminded by politicians, media and other (self) interested groups about the cost of health care, the need for more doctors and … Continue reading »
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The mooted $6 fee for GP visits trivialises the problem. Guest blogger: John Dwyer
There is a lot that is disturbing about the federal government’s flirtation with a $6 co-payment for a service from a GP. Most commentators have rejected this approach as poor public policy as it will act as a deterrent for poorer Australians to seek the care they need to provide paltry savings in a 120… Continue reading »
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More on pink batts. Guest blogger: Dr Michael Keating
I would like to add a further comment to your post on 3 January on the Pink Batts. First, I would further contest the evidence that this scheme was poorly conceived and badly implemented. On this point it should be noted that the Auditor General’s finding that 29 per cent of 13808 completed jobs had… Continue reading »
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Cricket – junk food and alcohol. John Menadue
Over the holidays I have very much enjoyed watching on television Australia winning at last. The visual TV coverage is outstanding. The camera crews do a great job. I enhance my enjoyment by minimising the audio content. Except for the opening and closing of each session, and at the fall of each wicket, I keep… Continue reading »
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Repost: We all see our doctor too much; and it’s not just the aged. John Menadue
The media have been discussing a proposal to impose a $5 or $6 levy for GP visits. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of times we each see our GP. It needs addressing, but not with a simplistic GP levy. See also piece below by Ian McAuley. Following the Grattan Institute’s recent… Continue reading »
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Repost: Co-payments: no rhyme or reason. Guest blogger Jennifer Doggett
This earlier post is reposted as it is relevant to the question of co-payments which a paper submitted to the Commission of Audit has proposed. Australians are often justifiably proud of Medicare and its role in making health care accessible to all in the community. However, a largely unrecognised threat to Medicare is the… Continue reading »
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Repost: Health care and the budget deficit in the US. Joint blog John Menadue and Ian McAuley
Repost for holiday reading. The political obstacles to these two major problems for President Obama are real and confusing. But the arithmetic is quite clear. If the US had a health service like those in countries without heavy reliance on private insurance, such as Australia, it could solve its budget deficit problem. Let us explain… Continue reading »
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Does Tony Abbott believe in markets? John Menadue
We are already seeing a division opening up in the Abbott Government between ‘wets’ and ‘dries’ and a lot of confusion. The Liberal Party and conservatives generally espouse the value of markets – that governments should not interfere unless there is clear market failure or overwhelming reasons of public interest. This belief in markets is… Continue reading »
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The cost of healthcare in Australia and remuneration of doctors. Guest blogger: Professor Kerry Goulston
The cost of healthcare is unsustainable here and in many other countries. In Australia it is 9.5% of GDP, estimated to rise to 16-25% by 2025. There are obvious reasons for this—population ageing, end of life heroics, increased technology and increased use of procedures. A rapidly increasing contributor to the cost of healthcare in Australia comes from… Continue reading »
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Funding withdrawal forces the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia into Administration. Guest blogger: Ian Webster AO
The Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) has served Australia for 50 years. It has worked collaboratively – but honestly – with all governments from Menzies to Rudd. But last week the Abbott government cut off funding. Compared with the costs of alcohol and drugs, alcohol alone costing $36 billion per year (Foundation… Continue reading »
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A mega industry subsidy to private health insurance companies. John Menadue
Many business economists continue to criticise the previous government and possibly the current one over the government subsidy of $10 billion over seven years for the auto industry. But that subsidy is small beer. The government subsidy to the private health insurance industry (PHI) has been $30 billion plus, over seven years. This year… Continue reading »
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When “… language itself becomes a weapon” Guest blogger: Professor Ian Webster.
When “..language itself becomes a weapon.”[1] “I know they’re rorting the system; I’ve seen it in the source countries; and I’ve seen it in my own electorate.” It was a party stopper from a Member of Parliament speaking informally with a group attending a meeting about preventing suicide. The two words “refugee” and “asylum seeker”… Continue reading »
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Facing the future. Guest blogger: Prof. Stephen Leeder
Facing the future in a world where black swan events change everything. When considering what we may be facing with a new federal government in Australia, a wise starting point would be a conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, he of the Black Swan theory. Taleb has written extensively, using the discovery of black swans in… Continue reading »
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No vision for the health system we need. Guest blogger Prof. John Dwyer
In this election the Coalition has provided dollar promises for worthy projects but no new health policy initiatives while only two of note have been forthcoming from the government; a long-term investment in stem cell research and the threat to remove family tax benefits from parents who put their children and the community at risk… Continue reading »
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Government failure in health care. John Menadue and guest blogger Ian McAuley
We have little to see for six years of “reform” under the Rudd/Gillard Governments. What was that about ending the blame game in health? It has been mainly muddling through with hopes dashed for significant reform in many key areas Health costs are rising rapidly, through lack of coordination and waste. Doctors provide too many… Continue reading »
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Taiwan shows the way in health insurance. John Menadue
I have spoken and written many times about the inefficiency and inequity of the taxpayer subsidy of $3.5 billion annually to the private health insurance funds in Australia. These funds favour the wealthy; enable some people to jump to the top of the hospital queue; they have administrative costs three times those of Medicare; they… Continue reading »
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Doctors scared Maggie Thatcher. John Menadue
Excuse me for dropping names but at a round table discussion with Maggie Thatcher in the late 1980s that I attended in Sydney she was asked “Now that you have fixed the work practices of the miners and the printers in the United Kingdom what are you going to do about the restrictive work practices… Continue reading »
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Catholic Health still leaves the impression that it wants to destroy Medicare. Joint Blog: John Menadue and Ian McAuley
On Mar 14 John Menadue wrote, on this blog site “Does Catholic really want to destroy Medicare”. Martin Laverty responded on 29 May. This is a further response by Ian McAuley and John Menadue. Together we have written many joint articles on health policy. See johnmenadue.com. Catholic Health’s response through Martin Laverty identifies two problems… Continue reading »
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Does Catholic Health really want to destroy Medicare? A Catholic Health response by CEO Martin Laverty
On May 14, I wrote a blog ‘Does Catholic Health really want to destroy Medicare? Martin Laverty, CEO of Catholic Health, responds as a guest blogger. Catholic Health Australia (CHA) commissioned the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) in 2010 to provide a contemporary assessment of the link between a person’s health and… Continue reading »
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Euthanasia – A denial of human dignity. Guest blogger Dr Joanne Wright
It is concerning that The Greens and organisations such as GetUp have seen fit to re-ignite the debate about the legalisation of euthanasia. I am a doctor. I worked in palliative care and now work with the elderly. I have seen first hand the complexity of the issues at the end of life. In reality,… Continue reading »
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There’s nothing basic about basic nursing care. Guest Blogger: Professor Mary Chiarella
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler has announced a new aged-care workforce compact which will result in 350,000 workers receiving supplementary payments of 1% over and above award increases. This amounts to $1/hour more for each worker – the lowest paid workers in the health care industry. Why is “intimate” nursing care, for… Continue reading »
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The Medicine Lobby. Vested interests win again. John Menadue
Professor Stephen Duckett of the Grattan Institute has just reported that ‘Australians are paying too much for prescription drugs. The cost of this overpayment is at least $1.3 p.a.’ This is another example of the power of vested interests in the health sector and their ability to extract economic rents from the community. The other… Continue reading »
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Health care reform remains a prisoner of Federalism. Guest blogger: John Dwyer
The intractable problem that sees a very wealthy country unable to provide cost effective and equitable health care is a political one. We are the only OECD country in which the provision of health care is illogically and inefficiently divided between two levels of Government. The Federal government is charged with funding, but not providing,… Continue reading »
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Another misleading story about hospital costs
The head of Ramsey Health told us in the AFR today that the “Productivity Commission report on public and private hospital systems found that the private sector was 30% more efficient” It did not. Last year the CEO of the Private Hospitals Association said that private hospital costs are 32% lower than public hospitals. The… Continue reading »
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The blame game in health continues.
Some weeks ago Victorian hospitals announced bed closures, job losses and elective surgery delays because of a dispute with the Commonwealth Government over the hospital funding formula. In an election year the issue seems to have been temporarily resolved by the Commonwealth stomping up more money. But it highlights the continuing malaise with divided. funding… Continue reading »
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Corporate bullies
Public debate and the development of good policy are being steadily corrupted by the success of powerful lobby groups to quickly close down debate and force retreat by the government. This tactic is assisted by a timid government and a media that has little understanding of policy issues, and is only too prepared to recycle… Continue reading »
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Teaching ‘medical English’ in Vietnam. Guest blogger Kerry Goulston
Vietnamese medical students realise that English is the international language of Medicine. They can read it well—all have Laptops or i-pads and have easy access to radio and TV- but they know that they have problems in understanding spoken English and in speaking it. It is a language very different from their own but in… Continue reading »
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Cricket – Junk food and BUPA
I used to be a grafted-on cricket watcher. But I am being weaned off. One reason is that there is so much cricket on TV that the quality suffers. I mostly turn off the audio and although the camera work is superb, I can’t turn off the unhealthy diet of fast-food and beer advertisements that… Continue reading »
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