The ageing population is only a relatively small contributor to the growth in hospital admissions.
Articles on Health economics
Displaying 161 - 180 of 288 articles
Health policy was an important factor in the election outcome, but one of the most important issues in the health sector – the impact of out-of-pocket costs – was mostly ignored.
The Turnbull government must reconcile the political sensitivity of Medicare and the need for fiscal discipline.
Scare campaigns only work if there is some anxiety to build on. Labor’s Medicare campaign plugged into a long history of Coalition ambivalence – or open hostility – towards Medicare.
The greater threats to our national public health system lie in the increasing role of consumer co-payments and the power of vested interests that stifle policy innovation in health.
The AMA has campaigned heavily on the Medicare rebate freeze, pointing out its potential impact on patient access if out-of-pocket costs were to increase.
Labor will lift the rebate freeze from 2017, while under the Coalition, GPs will be paid the same amount for delivering health services in 2020 as they were in 2014. So what does this mean for patients?
We need to focus on keeping people out of hospital by providing better co-ordinated and integrated care.
States will receive an additional A$2.9 billion from July 2017 to June 2020, with growth in Commonwealth funding capped at 6.5%. The Conversation’s experts respond.
The Commonwealth wants to partially reverse the cuts it made to public hospital funding in the 2014 budget. But the deal has some unwelcome strings attached.
Fixing the hospital system is not just a matter of more funding. Hospitals need to work smarter, not harder.
There is substantial variation in the safety and quality of care provided in Australian hospitals. The data can tell us why.
Around a quarter of people with private health insurance still choose to use the public system. Why?
For many patients, hospital may not be the best place for their care.
Health-care costs are rising, driven by expensive developments in treatments, more demanding populations and rising national wealth. We need to change the financing system to meet this challenge.
Waiting for emergency care, specialist appointments and “elective” procedures is not only inconvenient and frustrating, it can also be painful and detrimental to your health and well-being.
Why is it so difficult to find out exactly how much it’s going to cost to have that suspicious mole removed or to be admitted to hospital for that colonoscopy or hip replacement?
In a time of growing populations, hospitals must guarantee access, ensure quality, minimise the chances of anything going wrong, and do it all within the available budget. So they need to change.
What are the most common reasons for going to hospital? What can go wrong? What’s behind the state-Commonwealth funding fight? Our at-a-glance infographic has the answers.
The 5.6% increase amounts to the average family paying about $300 more a year for an average policy.
Top contributors
-
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
-
Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
-
Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University
-
Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University
-
Professor of Health Economics, Flinders University
-
Reader in Health Economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
-
Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, University of Sydney
-
Professor of Health Economics and Director, Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Technology Sydney
-
Health economist, University of Sydney
-
Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney
-
Jim Gillespie is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Professor in Health Policy, Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data & Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
-
Senior Policy Adviser, National Rural Health Alliance; Adjunct Lecturer, University of Sydney
-
Lecturer, Public Sector Finance, University of Canberra
-
Emeritus Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney