Health
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Ian McPhee. Let’s talk about dying.
What does it mean to die well? We must acknowledge divergent views on assisted dying and start framing laws that will enable it, writes Ian McPhee. I am a medical specialist with advanced cancer. In a career begun more than 35 years ago, I have seen death in all its guises: in homes, at the Continue reading »
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Ian McAuley Private health insurance – does the lady protest too much?
Sussan Ley, the Commonwealth Health Minister, has hit out at private health insurers’ bid for a six per cent price increase. In view of the strong support the Coalition has always given private health insurers, such public criticism from a Liberal Party minister may surprise us. As one-time Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “private health Continue reading »
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Ian Webster. Alcohol and Sport.
The facts about alcohol should stop politicians in their tracks. But they are unmoved. A quarter to a third of the work of a general hospital is alcohol-related. On Australia Day one in seven ED attendances were caused by alcohol; in some EDs it was one in three. The Senior Australian of the Year, Gordian Continue reading »
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John Dwyer. ‘Health’ products and treatments that are often unproven and sometimes dangerous.
Health Care Advertising and Consumer Protection There are far more irritations than pearls available currently to those of us trying to champion the importance of having our health care underpinned by credible scientific evidence of clinical effectiveness. Though we live in the most scientific of all ages it is cause for concern that practices Continue reading »
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Brad Chilcott. I donated a kidney to my son. Don’t tell me not to make it ‘political’.
In early December, I went into surgery to give my eight-year-old son Harrison my left kidney. He heard me groaning in recovery as the anaesthetist put him to sleep a few hours later so that he could receive it. The operation was the first of my life and Harrison’s 13th. He’d experience his 14th general Continue reading »
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Robin Room and Michael Livingston. Alcohol companies target the 20% of Australians who drink 75% of the alcohol.
Researchers have known for a long time that alcohol consumption is quite concentrated in a small part of the population. They argue about the exact distribution, but there is substantial agreement that, so long as alcohol sales are not heavily restricted, consumption is distributed in a quite predictable way. That is, there are many light Continue reading »
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Michael Thorn. Caught Out: How Cricket Australia maintains Aussies high drinking average.
The runs are coming thick and fast in the current Victoria Bitter One Day International Series between Australia and India, bested only by the onslaught of alcohol advertising both on and off the pitch as well as in the commercial breaks in between the on field action. That barrage of alcohol ads on the Continue reading »
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Kim Oates. Excuse me doctor, have you washed your hands?
Imagine you are a patient in hospital. The doctor draws back the bed sheet to examine your abdomen. Before you are touched, you say “Excuse me doctor, have you washed your hands?” Would you dare? Would you be too embarrassed, awkward or even afraid to ask? Would you worry that it would be rude to Continue reading »
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The policy scandal of a $11b taxpayer subsidy to private health insurance.
I don’t think that I can recall a domestic policy that is so outrageous as the $11 b. annual cost to the taxpayer of the subsidy to private health insurance (PHI) companies. The subsidy is paid to policy holders, but it really means that PHI companies receive the benefit of the subsidy. For further explanation Continue reading »
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John Duggan. Advice from expert clinicians or the AMA
For those interested in the cost of health care the recently released interim report by the Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review “obsolete MBS items track one” demonstrates the dawning recognition that there are procedures and tests that do not justify their existence or federal funding. The story begins with the decision of Ms Sussan Ley, Continue reading »
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Ian McAuley, Jennifer Doggett, John Menadue. Private Health Insurance companies are price takers. Prices are set by doctors and hospitals.
Repost from 22/10/2015 On Tuesday the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its report on private health insurance. Private health insurance (PHI) was also in the news a day later with the standing down of the CEO of Medibank Pte, the largest PHI company. The ACCC report has been a regular report since 1999, when Continue reading »
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Jennifer Doggett, Ian McAuley, John Menadue. Four Corners: No wonder we’re wasting money in health care – we got the incentives wrong
Repost from 06/10/2015. A recently-aired ABC Four Corners program aptly titled “Wasted” exposed three areas of unnecessary, ineffective and outright dangerous health interventions, in knee, spinal and heart surgery. The show’s host, Norman Swan, presumably extrapolating from the findings in those three areas, claimed that waste could be as high as 30 percent of all Continue reading »
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Michael Thorn. The Australian cricket captain says its about the brand and not alcohol.
Repost from 24/09/2015 Premier Mike Baird’s public comments at last week’s Thomas Kelly Foundation event in Sydney wasn’t the first time he has questioned the extent of alcohol advertising in this country, particularly its strong association with big sport. Baird made the self-evident point that such alcohol advertising has become omni-present and spoke about the Continue reading »
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Kim Oates. Don’t forget children when talking about domestic violence
Children are victims of domestic violence too. Last week the Children’s Commissioner released this year’s children’s rights report. It provided new data about the prevalence of child physical and sexual abuse and their links with domestic violence. Christmas, traditionally a time of peace and goodwill is sadly, a time of increased domestic violence, thought to be Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Cricket and the sound of summer.
For me, the most memorable comment of the cricket season so far has been by Steve Smith, the Australian captain, explaining that the VB logo on their jackets wasn’t really advertising alcohol. It was only ‘branding’. I notice that he is now promoting Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am waiting for his explanation of how that Continue reading »
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John Duggan. The effect of healthcare privatisation on patient outcomes
Recent actions by the Federal Minister of Health and her predecessors indicate the government’s aim to shift hospital care from the public to the private sector. Associated with this is the developing perception that private hospitals are superior just as private schooling is increasingly held to be superior to publicly funded schooling. However, while there Continue reading »
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Peter Gibilisco. The standardisation of services for people with disabilities.
WHAT IS MEANT BY EFFICIENCY IN THE PROVISION OF SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES? IS IT JUST A COVER FOR GREATER STANDARDISATION? The State Disability Plan is not the only endorsement of the need to emphasize the individualising of care for people with disabilities. We now hear of a profound development – person-centred planning is Continue reading »
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Why we don’t want private health insurance for primary care
The worst possible outcome from the current review of Private Health Insurance would be changes that resulted in the best-resourced Primary Care being only available to those who have such insurance. Continue reading »
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Sebastian Rosenberg. Mental health changes.
Announcing the federal government’s response to the National Mental Health Commission’s review of mental health services today, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull emphasised the concept of patient choice. The commission’s review was the latest in a long line of reports showing that for many Australians needing mental health care, their current choice is between getting no Continue reading »
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John Thompson. The costly abolition of Medicare Locals
Despite promising to keep Medicare Locals, the Abbott government abolished the fledgling organisations after it took office. Even when it had no clear policies or plans to replace them, the Abbott government seemed determined to undo many of the initiatives of the previous Labor government. This was certainly the case in relation to primary health Continue reading »
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An Open Letter to the Minister for Health concerning Private Health Insurance.
19 November 2015 Hon Sussan Ley M.P., Minister for Health, Parliament House, ACT 2600 Dear Minister (I have signed this letter on my behalf and also on behalf of the people listed below. I will be posting this ‘open letter’ on my blog early next week.) We are pleased to see that you are canvassing Continue reading »
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Lesley Russell Too high: the impact of specialists’ fees on patients’ health
In today’s health care debates around the centrality of primary care, moving towards patient-centred medical homes, improving care coordination for people with chronic illnesses and whether private health insurance provides value for money, there is one element that is almost always missing – the role and the costs of specialist services. In 2014 over 28 Continue reading »
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John Dwyer. Wasting precious health dollars.
In the last eighteen months our coalition government has repeatedly warned that the rate at which we are increasing health related expenditure is unsustainable. The attempt to extract a co-payment from Australians visiting their GP was justified using this concern. However it is the better use of the currently available health dollars that should Continue reading »
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Thanks to Jake Bailey and Christchurch Boys High School.
Just one week before his final school assembly, Christchurch Boys High School’s Head Boy, Jake Bailey, was told that he may not have long to live. The 18 year old NZ student was bed-ridden and absent from school for three weeks while undergoing treatment for aggressive cancer. But during his final school prize-giving ceremony he Continue reading »
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Ian Marsh. Will privatised schools and hospital drive public sector efficiency?
One of the first substantive announcements of Treasurer Scott Morrison concerned the privatisation of schools, hospitals and community services that are provided by State governments. He enthusiastically endorsed this 2012 Commission of Audit recommendation: ‘Given the size of the human services sector (which is set to increase further as Australia’s population ages), even small improvements Continue reading »
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Peter Gibilisco. Friendship and Service Provision Ethos for People with Disabilities
In this article I want to discuss an aspect of the standardised procedures set by service providers in facilities that serve people with disabilities. More to the point, I am keen to explore how this affects the ethos of service delivery for people with severe or profound physical disabilities within such shared supportive accommodation. Let Continue reading »
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Climate, Economy, Health, Human Rights, Immigration, refugees, Infrastructure, Media, SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security, World Affairs
Michael Keating. The role of government in policy renewal.
In thanking Ross Gittins for launching ‘Freedom, Opportunity and Security’, Mike Keating explains the reasons why he and I decided to launch this series, first online and now in a book. Mike Keating’s book launch notes follow. I will also be posting Ross Gittins’ comments. John Menadue. Thank you Ross Gittins and thanks to you all Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The unfairness and waste in health. Private Health Insurance is the real culprit.
Medibank Pte has been in dispute with the Calvary Hospital Group and now with UnitingCare over performance in their hospitals. At last our largest private health insurance company, MBP has come to understand that the private providers, hospitals and doctors, are really in control. These private providers determine the quality of care and its cost. Continue reading »
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Peter Gibilisco and assisted by Bruce Wearne. A Special Minister for Disability.
Disability support and policy is currently undergoing much needed reform. Such reforms highlight the attenuated life chances of people with disabilities and how these can be mitigated by policies that emphasize the inclusion of people with disabilities into the social life of us all. There is much public money being spent on getting things right, Continue reading »
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Wasteful costs in health.
Following the ABC Four Corners program on health costs in Australia, there have been a number of very good follow up articles. The first, in The Conversation on 29 September is by Ray Moynihan ‘Costly and harmful: we need to tame the tsunami of too much medicine’. https://theconversation.com/costly-and-harmful-we-need-to-tame-the-tsunami-of-too-much-medicine-48239 The second, in the AFR on 5 Continue reading »