more_vertAt the Annual Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Financing Forum in Washington, DC, USA, on April 14–15, 2016, governments and development partners will debate how to raise and organise public and private resources needed for low-income and lower-middle-income countries to assure affordable, quality health care to all of their people by 2030.
Preference: Government and politics
Health key in knife-edge election
The Coalition is likely to win the Federal Election but it could well find itself having to form a minority government, a panel of the nation’s leading political journalists told the AMA National Conference.
The journalists, Channel Ten political editor Paul Bongiorno, Australian Financial Review political editor Laura Tingle, News.com national political editor Malcolm Farr, news.com health reporter Sue Dunlevy, and West Australian political editor Andrew Probyn, said that after going through five Prime Ministers in little more than three years, the electorate was hankering for stability.
“It doesn’t feel like a shift is on,” Ms Tingle said. “There is a lack of enthusiasm for change.”
Mr Probyn said he expected the Coalition would win by a narrow three-seat margin at the 2 July poll, but others thought there was a strong chance Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would fall short of an absolute majority and have to negotiate with minor parties and independent MPs to form government.
Ms Tingle said in Queensland it was unclear which way the voters who supported the Palmer United Party at the last election would go, and the absence of Campbell Newman from the political scene added to the uncertainty, while in South Australia the Nick Xenophon Team was polling very strongly.
“It makes it very difficult to tell what is going to happen,” she said.
Mr Farr said the fact it was a double dissolution election added to the uncertainty, and warned that changes to Senate voting rules would help some independent candidates with a well-established profile, like Pauline Hanson.
Labor and the Greens have campaigned hard on health – both have made a $2.4 billion commitment to end the Medicare rebate freeze, and Greens have promised an extra $4 billion for public hospitals.
The AMA and other medical groups are pushing hard for the Coalition to match the other parties and ditch the rebate freeze.
But Mr Probyn said the Government was “utterly intent on locking in savings”.
Ms Dunlevy warned the Government was unlikely to announce any big health reforms ahead of the election, and the best that health groups could hope for was to stem the flow of cuts.
She said the campaign being waged against the rebate freeze by the AMA, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and others was unlikely to bite politically while bulk billing rates remained at or near record levels.
“Bulk billing is at its highest level ever, which is why the freeze is not becoming a big election issue,” she said. “So far you have got threats to ending bulk billing, but voters are not seeing it yet.”
In recent years the AMA has been successful in lobbying against several government measures, including twice forcing the Abbott Government to ditch plans for a patient co-payment.
The panel said the AMA’s effectiveness stemmed from the way it had positioned itself as a forceful advocate for the interests of patients.
“People are now saying that doctors are not only on their own side, but also on the side of patients,” Mr Bongiorno said. “The way doctors have stood up to politicians, particularly on asylum seekers, has won them a lot of respect.”
Ms Dunlevy said the lesson was that “it is not about your profession, it is about the patient”.
“If what you are asking for is going to benefit patients, you are on the right track,” she said.
Adrian Rollins
Private health insurance – its role in the Australian health system
Women with private health cover are overwhelmingly choosing to use the public health system for their second baby, Medibank Private chief medical officer Linda Swan told delegates at the AMA National Conference.
In a policy session on the role of private health insurance in the Australian health care system, Dr Swan said expenditure and claims were exceeding patients’ willingness to use their private cover.
“People are very clearly telling us that affordability is their No.1 issue,” Dr Swan said.
Rising health care costs could not continue unless Governments and consumers were willing to pay more, or the expense of care could be reduced, she said.
Earlier that day, News Corp national health reporter Sue Dunlevy told the conference that she had been “forced” by the Government to take out private health insurance but was “determined not to use it” because of excessive out-of-pocket expenses.
“There’s something crooked at the heart of the private health insurance industry in this country,” Ms Dunlevy said.
But Professor John Horvath, the strategic medical advisor at Ramsay Health Care, had a more positive view of the future.
“Australia has an excellent health care system producing world-leading outcomes for patients,” Professor Horvath said.
“Australia spends around 9 per cent of GDP on health care, of which 30 per cent is from private sources. This is lower than the OECD average, yet our life expectancy and outcomes are among the highest in the OECD.”
Professor Horvath said the ongoing increase in demand for health care, and rising costs, meant payers – including governments – and consumers would continue to push for more value from their health care spend.
He said benchmarked performance reporting and clinician engagement, not “stick” approached like financial penalties, would drive real improvements in quality, while digital technology would improve patient outcomes and enable hospitals to extend their care beyond hospital walls.
“This is all good news for patients,” he said.
Ramsay has begun measuring and benchmarking with the International Consortium on Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) to allow global comparison of specific medical conditions.
It is measuring outcomes in six specific areas:
- Low back pain,
- Hip and knee osteoarthritis,
- Cataract surgery,
- Coronary artery disease,
- Depression and anxiety, and
- Prostate cancer.
The measurements will take in readmission rates, returns to theatre, infection rates, falls, hand hygiene, pressure injuries, medication safety, and patient experience.
Ramsay is also adding new measures including quality of life following treatment, survival, and disease control.
It is also about to commence a trial of the Vanderbilt Program, to assess its effectiveness in managing poorly behaved Visiting Medical Officers who undermine a culture of safety and quality.
The Vanderbilt Program looks at behaviours such as not following a surgical checklist, not washing hands, and bullying of staff – all of which can lead to consequences such as surgical complications, high rates of infections or errors, lawsuits, and loss of staff.
The program is based on the principal of having a conversation with a physician around their behaviour and building up to authority conversations with clearly defined consequences.
Opinions from the floor were mixed. Some doctors said that the combination of more complex patients, procedures and medications would inevitably lead to higher expenditures.
Others said that in most industries, new technologies drive costs down, but in health care they increase costs.
Maria Hawthorne
AMA Awards
President’s Award
Dr Paul Bauert OAM and Dr Graeme Killer AO
Two doctors, one a passionate advocate for the disadvantaged and the other a pioneering force in the care of military veterans, have been recognised with the prestigious AMA President’s Award for their outstanding contributions to the care of their fellow Australians.
Dr Paul Bauert, the Director of Paediatrics at Royal Darwin Hospital, has fought for better care for Indigenous Australians for more than 30 years. More recently, he has taken up the battle for children in immigration detention.
Dr Bauert arrived in Darwin in 1977 as an intern, intending to stay for a year or two. In his words: “I’m still here, still passionate about children’s health and what makes good health and good healthcare possible for all children and their families. I believe I may well have the best job on the planet.”
Dr Graeme Killer, a Vietnam veteran, spent 23 years in the RAAF before becoming principal medial adviser to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Over the next 25 years, he pioneered major improvements in the care of veterans, including the Coordinated Veterans’ Care project.
Dr Killer has overseen a series of ground-breaking research studies into the health of veterans, including Gulf War veterans, atomic blast veterans, submariners, and the F-111 Deseal and Reseal program. He was also instrumental in turning around the veterans’ health care system from earlier prejudicial attitudes towards psychological suffering.
Dr Bauert and Dr Killer were presented with their awards by outgoing AMA President, Professor Brian Owler, at the AMA National Conference Gala Dinner.
Excellence in Healthcare Award
The Excellence in Healthcare Award this year recognised a 20-year partnership devoted to advancing Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory.
Associate Professor John Boffa and Central Australian Aboriginal Congress CEO Donna Ah Chee were presented with the Award for their contribution to reducing harms of alcohol and improving early childhood outcomes for Aboriginal children.
Associate Professor Boffa has worked in Aboriginal primary care services for more than 25 years, and moved to the Northern Territory after graduating in medicine from Monash University.
As a GP and the Chief Medical Officer of Public Health at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, he has devoted his career to changing alcohol use patterns in Indigenous communities, with campaigns such as ‘Beat the Grog’ and ‘Thirsty Thursday’.
Ms Ah Chee grew up on the far north coast of New South Wales and moved to Alice Springs in 1987. With a firm belief that education is the key pathway to wellbeing and health, she is committed to eradicating the educational disadvantage afflicting Indigenous people.
Between them, the pair have initiated major and highly significant reforms in not only addressing alcohol and other drugs, but in collaborating and overcoming many cross-cultural sensitivities in working in Aboriginal health care.
Their service model on alcohol and drug treatment resulted in a major alcohol treatment service being funded within an Aboriginal community controlled health service.
AMA Woman in Medicine Award
An emergency physician whose pioneering work has led to significant reductions in staph infections in patients is the AMA Woman in Medicine Award recipient for 2016.
Associate Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton has made a major contribution to emergency medicine and public health through her work as Director of Emergency Research and Innovation at Monash Medical Centre Emergency Department, and as Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University.
Her just say no to the just-in-case cannula has yielded real change in practice and has cut staff infections in patients, while her Enough is Enough: Emergency Department Clinicians Action on Reducing Alcohol Harm project developed a phone app that allows clinicians to identify hazardous drinkers and offer them a brief intervention and referral if required.
Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton has been passionate about tackling alcohol harm, from violence against medical staff in hospitals to domestic violence and street brawls.
She championed the first bi-annual meeting on public health and emergency medicine in Australia and established the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine’s alcohol harm in emergency departments program.
In addition, she has developed countless resources for emergency departments to facilitate management of pandemic influenza and heatwave health, and has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications.
Professor Owler said Associate Professor Egerton-Warburton’s tireless work striving for high standards in emergency departments for patients and her unrelenting passion to improve public health made her a deserving winner of the Award.
AMA Doctor in Training of the Year Award
Trainee neurosurgeon Dr Ruth Mitchell has been named the inaugural AMA Doctor in Training of the Year in recognition of her passion for tackling bullying and sexual harassment in the medical profession.
Dr Mitchell, who was a panellist in the Bullying and Harassment policy session at National Conference, is in her second year of her PhD at the University of Melbourne, and is a neurosurgery registrar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Presenting the award, Professor Owler said Dr Mitchell had played a pivotal role in reducing workplace bullying and harassment in the medical profession and was a tireless advocate for doctors’ wellbeing and high quality care.
MJA/MDA National Prize for Excellence in Medical Research
A study examining the impact of a widely-criticised ABC TV documentary on statin use won the award for best research article published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2015.
Researchers from the University of Sydney, University of NSW and Australian National University found that tens of thousands of Australians stopped or reduced their use of cholesterol-lowering drugs following the documentary’s airing, with potentially fatal consequences.
In 2013, the science program Catalyst aired a two-part series that described statins as “toxic” and suggested the link between cholesterol and heart disease was a myth.
The researchers found that in the eight months after program was broadcast, there were 504,180 fewer dispensings of statins, affecting more than 60,000 people and potentially leading to as many as 2900 preventable heart attacks and strokes.
AMA/ACOSH National Tobacco Scoreboard Award and Dirty Ashtray
The Commonwealth Government won the AMA/ACOSH National Tobacco Scoreboard Award for doing the most to combat smoking and tobacco use, while the Northern Territory Government won the Dirty Ashtray Award for doing the least.
The Commonwealth was commended for its continuing commitment to tobacco control, including plain packaging and excise increases, but still only received a B grade for its efforts.
The Northern Territory received an E grade for lagging behind all other jurisdictions in banning smoking from pubs, clubs, and dining areas, and for a lack of action on education programs.
State Media Awards
Best Lobby Campaign
AMA NSW won the Best Lobby Campaign award for its long-running campaign to improve clinician engagement in public hospitals.
The campaign started after the Garling Inquiry in 2008, which identified the breakdown of trust between public hospital doctors and their managers as an impediment to good, safe patient care.
It led to a world-first agreement between the NSW Government and doctors, signed in February 2015 by Health Minister Jillian Skinner, AMA NSW and the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation NSW, to embed clinician engagement in the culture of the public hospital system, and to formally measure how well doctors are engaged in the decision-making processes.
Best Public Health Campaign
AMA NSW also took home the Best Public Health Campaign award for its innovative education campaign on sunscreen use and storage.
The campaign drew on new research which found that many Australians do not realise that sunscreen can lose up to 40 per cent of its effectiveness if exposed to temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius.
The campaign received an unexpected boost with the release of survey results showing that one in three medical students admitted to sunbaking to tan, despite knowing the cancer risk.
Best State Publication
AMA WA won the highly competitive Best State Publication award for its revamped Medicus members’ magazine.
The 80-page publication provides a mix of special features, clinical commentaries, cover articles and opinion pieces to reflect the concerns and interests of WA’s medical community and beyond.
The judges said that with its eye-catching covers, Medicus made an immediate impact on readers.
Most Innovative Use of Website or New Media
AMA WA won the award for its Buildit portal, a mechanism for matching trainee doctors with research projects and supervisors.
The judges described Buildit as taking the DNA of a dating app and applying it to the functional research requirements of doctors in training, allowing for opportunities that may have otherwise been missed.
National Advocacy Award
AMA Victoria won the National Advocacy Award for its courage and tenacity in tackling bullying, discrimination and harassment within the medical profession.
AMA Victoria sought the views and concerns of its members, and made submissions to both the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ inquiry and the Victorian Auditor-General’s audit of bullying, harassment and discrimination within state public hospitals.
The judges said that tackling a challenge within your own profession was a particularly difficult task, especially in the glare of public scrutiny, making the AMA Victoria campaign a standout.
Maria Hawthorne
Rebate freeze will cost avg GP almost $110,000
The Medicare rebate freeze will leave a full-time GP $109,000 worse off by the time it is lifted in 2020, and practices will need to charge patients at least an extra $11.40 per visit just to maintain their income, a study on the impact of the policy shows.
Researchers at Sydney University’s Family Medicine Research Centre – which is due to close down on 30 June – have reported that the rebate freeze, which has been in place since 2014 and is due to remain until June 2020, will cost practices hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income – underlining concerns it will force many to abandon bulk billing and begin charging patients if they are to remain financially viable.
The researchers, Christopher Harrison, Clare Bayram and Helena Britt, estimated that GPs would lose 9.4 per cent of their income if they did not pass the costs of the freeze on to their general patients.
They said that for an average full-time GP, who bills 5680 consultations a year, this would amount to a loss of $40,000 in 2019-20 alone, and total loss of $109,000 over the six years the freeze is due to be in place.
This was likely to result in extra charges for patients, the researchers said.
“The 9.4 per cent reduction in income may force GPs who bulk bill to cover their loss by charging general patients a co-payment,” they said.
They estimated that GPs would need to charge a minimum of $11.40 just to hold their income at 2014-15 levels, but admitted it was likely to be substantially higher because it did not take into account the administrative costs of setting up a billing system, increased bad debts, the impact of previous fee freezes and the income lost when a GP bulk bills a general patient facing financial hardship.
“It’s therefore likely that GPs who opt to charge a co-payment will charge more than our estimates,” they said, and cited the results of an Australian Doctor poll showing a majority would charge $25 or more for a standard consultation.
The findings of the study echo concerns raised by AMA President Dr Michael Gannon that the rebate freeze was pushing many practices to “breaking point”.
“We know that…some are being forced to introduce patient charges for the first time, others are having to increase their fees,” Dr Gannon said. “Either way, patients lose out and health suffers.”
The AMA President said the freeze was “bad policy” because it would cause many patients to consider delaying seeing their doctor, exacerbating their health problems and making it more likely they would eventually need expensive hospital treatment.
The Family Medicine Research Centre academics warned freeze was likely to hit disadvantaged and chronically ill patients the hardest.
“The freeze is likely to have a greater impact on practices that serve socioeconomically disadvantaged people, as the practices would have to absorb the reduction in gross income, which may not be viable,” they said.
Adding to the pressure on patients and doctors, the researchers estimated that the Government’s proposed increases in co-payments for Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme medicines would hit elderly patients particularly hard.
The increases, which have so far been blocked in the Senate, would push the PBS co-payment for general patients to $43.30, and for concessional patients to $7.
The researchers estimated that aged pensioners would, on average, be left $29.65 a year worse off as a result of the changes.
Adrian Rollins
AMA calls for fair go for bush health
The AMA has encouraged all major political parties to deliver significant real funding increases for health care in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Immediate-past President Professor Brian Owler made the appeal when he launched the AMA’s plan for Better Health Care for Regional, Rural, and Remote Australia at Parliament House last month.
Professor Owler said that the life expectancy for those living in regional areas was up to two years less than the broader population, and up to seven years less in remote areas, and needed to change.
“It is essential that Government policy and resources are tailored and targeted to cater to the unique nature of rural health care and the diverse needs of rural and remote communities to ensure they receive timely, comprehensive, and quality care,” Professor Owler said.
The AMA plan focusses on four key measures – rebuilding country hospital infrastructure; supporting recruitment and retention; encouraging more young doctors to work in rural areas; and supporting rural practices.
The plan encourages Federal, State and Territory governments to work together to ensure that rural hospitals are adequately funded to meet the needs of their local communities. More than 50 per cent of small rural maternity units have closed in the past two decades.
Professor Owler said rural hospitals needed modern facilities, and must attract a sustainable health workforce.
“We need to invest in hospital infrastructure,” Professor Owler said. “When hospitals don’t have investment, when their infrastructure runs down, it makes it much harder for rural doctors to service patients in their communities.”
He called on the Council of Australian Government (COAG) to consider a detailed funding stream for rural hospitals, backed by a national benchmark and performance framework.
Professor Owler visited a rural GP practice at Bungendore and spoke with the local doctors about the issues and barriers of delivering high quality timely health care to the community.
“General practice is the backbone of rural health care, providing high quality primary care services for patients, procedural and emergency services at local hospitals, as well as training the next generation of GPs,” Professor Owler said.
“Rural GPs would like to do more, but face significant infrastructure limitations in areas such as IT, equipment, and physical space.
“Rural general practices need to be properly funded to improve their available infrastructure, expand services they provide to patients and support improved opportunities for teaching in general practice.”
The AMA has recommend that the Government fund a further 425 rural GP infrastructure grants, worth up to $500,000 each, to assist rural GPs.
Professor Owler added that timely access to a doctor was a key problem for people living in rural areas, with the overall distribution of doctors skewed heavily towards the major cities. He said the burden of medical workforce shortages fell disproportionately on communities in regional, rural and remote areas.
The number of GP proceduralists or generalists working across rural and remote Australia has steadily been declining. In 2002, 24 per cent of the Australian rural and remote general practice workforce consisted of GP proceduralists. By 2014, this level had dropped to just under 10 per cent.
The AMA and the Rural Doctors Association of Australia have together developed a package that recognises both the isolation of rural and remote practice and the need for the right skill mix in these areas.
The AMA Better Health Care for Regional, Rural, and Remote Australia is available at gp-network-news/ama-plan-better-health-care-regional-…
Kirsty Waterford
Radiologists abandon campaign on promise of Govt review
The Coalition has convinced the diagnostic imaging industry to drop its campaign against cuts to bulk billing incentives in exchange for a review of the commercial pressures the sector is working under.
After last month striking a peace deal with pathologists to end a damaging campaign over the axing of bulk billing incentives for pathology services, the Government has headed off similar action by the nation’s radiology providers.
Health Minister Sussan Ley announced on 5 June that the Coalition, if re-elected, would commission an “independent evaluation…of the commercial pressures facing diagnostic imaging providers”.
Ms Ley said the evaluation would also be used to help identify ways to make Government spending more targeted and efficient.
“Advancing technology in many areas of the health system creates a much more efficient and automated service, leading to decreased costs,” the Minister said. “However, this is not the case for most diagnostic imaging services, which need specialist doctors to supervise the examination and analyse the results, not machines.
“This independent evaluation will ensure we can work together with the diagnostic imaging sector to pinpoint exactly where possible improvements can be made in the broader system, and ensure this significant additional investment is targeted where it will have the most benefit for patients.”
Ms Ley up to $50 million a year could be saved through greater efficiencies in Government spending.
The Minister’s announcement came just days before the Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association planned to launch a public campaign warning that cuts to bulk billing incentives, coming on top of an 18-year freeze on patient rebates, would force the cost of crucial of crucial diagnostic and treatment services beyond the reach of many patients, including those with cancer.
The Association had said that average out-of-pocket costs for x-rays, ultrasounds, CTs and MRIs had reached $100, and practices were “extremely concerned” that the freeze on rebates would “continue to drive more patients away from essential diagnosis and treatment”.
But, following Ms Ley’s announcement, Association Chief Executive Officer Pattie Beerens said she was confident the Coalition’s plan, which includes maintaining the bulk billing incentive for concession card holders and children, a three-year moratorium on changes to Diagnostic Imaging Services Table and a resumption of rebate indexation in 2020, would “show a path” to adequate Medicare rebates.
“We had to fight the case for patients and we are really pleased that our advocacy has resulted in the diagnostic imaging sector and the Government working constructively to achieve a positive outcome for patients, providers and taxpayers,” Ms Beerens said.
Adrian Rollins
Greens make multi-billion commitment to chronic care
General practices would receive $1000 for each chronic disease patient enrolled with them under a plan outlined by Australian Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale.
Upping the ante on Coalition policies regarding support for the treatment of chronic illness, Senator Di Natale said the Greens would inject $4.3 billion over four years to boost care.
Under the plan, not only would practices get an extra $1000 for each patient with a chronic illness who voluntarily enrolled with them, but $2.8 billion would be allocated to being allied health services within the public system and bolster Primary Health Networks to coordinated team-based care.
“Stretched GPs need a system which is set up to really support them in working with a team to better plan and organise care, and to improve outcomes for chronic disease patients over time,” Senator Di Natale said.
The Greens leader said the $4.3 billion commitment amounted to a “dramatic refocusing of our primary care sector to effectively respond to chronic disease”, and would establish a blended payment system that would complement the existing fee-for-service structure.
“As a former GP myself, I know the pressure that doctors are under to focus on responding to the immediate ailments of patients,” Senator Di Natale said. “But chronic illnesses are complex, and effective management requires long-term treatment and monitoring of symptoms by a range of health practitioners, working together.”
The Greens announcement follows the Government’s Health Care Homes initiative earlier this year, under which medical practices would receive bundled payments to provide integrated and coordinated care for patients with complex and chronic illnesses.
The Government has committed $21 million to a two-year trial of up to 200 Health Care Homes involving around 65,000 patients.
The AMA has welcomed the Health Care Home proposal but is critical that not more money has been allocated to the trial.
Senator Di Natale echoed the criticism, arguing that although the Health Care Homes initiative showed a welcome focus on an important area of care, “the trial is inadequately resourced and lacks any real detail”.
“Our plan is detailed, commits the funding necessary to be a success, and in the long-term will lead to savings as we better manage chronic disease and avoid hospital admissions,” he said.
Adrian Rollins
Labor plans long-term reform
Labor has committed to establishing a national commission to develop and drive reforms to the health care system if it wins the 2 July election.
In a speech to the AMA National Conference, Shadow Health Minister Catherine King announced that a Shorten Government would form the Australian Healthcare Reform Commission to end a “boom and cycle” in health reform.
Ms King said solutions to some of the “big and difficult questions in health care” extended well beyond the lifecycle of any one Parliament, but were often a casualty when government changed hands.
“This boom and bust cycle in health care reform is not helping find, let alone embed, solutions to problems such as how we provide funding and incentives for things the health care system does not do – avoiding hospital admissions, for example,” Ms King said.
“These and many more challenges…require long-term thinking and long-term solutions.”
The Shadow Minister said the Commission would assume the functions of many organisations abolished or downgraded by the Coalition Government, including the National Health Performance Authority, the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency and Health Workforce Australia.
Under Labor’s plan, the Commission would develop and evaluate proposed reforms, advise Federal, State and Territory governments, and would be given the resources to implement change.
“It will be tasked with rolling out agreed structural reforms to our health care system, including changes to funding agreements and payment systems,” Ms King said.
In addition to its other work, the Commission would assume the functions of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and would include a new Centre for Medicare and Healthcare System Innovation, charged with developing and evaluating new payment and service delivery models.
Ms King said the Centre would include the functions of the current MBS Review, and vowed that any savings realised by the review process would be reinvested in new models of care.
Under Labor’s plan, the Commission will report to the Council of Australian Governments through the standing committee of health ministers.
Ms King said the body would be funded from the consolidation of existing agencies and resources within the Health Department.
Adrian Rollins
Only the Coalition has a credible, affordable plan for health: Ley
Only the Coalition has an affordable and sustainable vision for the future of the nation’s health care system, according to Health Minister Sussan Ley.
Seeking to frame the debate over health policy in terms of economic and financial management, Ms Ley told the AMA National Conference Gala Dinner that although Labor and the Australians Greens had unveiled policies with hefty price tags, only the Coalition had the fiscal discipline to be able to afford its health promises.
Labor has made health a centrepiece of its bid to win the 2 July election, announcing a succession of attention-grabbing policies including a $2.4 billion commitment to end the Medicare rebate freeze, $971 million to scrap increases to PBS co-payments and safety net thresholds, and $35 million for palliative care.
Not to be outdone, the Greens have matched Labor’s policy to resume Medicare rebate indexation, and have promised an extra $4 billion for public hospitals, $4.3 billion to support chronic disease treatment and $2 billion for domestic violence services.
But Ms Ley claimed that neither Labor nor the Greens had shown how they could afford their commitments and claimed the Coalition was the only party with a credible and affordable plan.
The Minister recently likened the approach of her political opponents to the use of a placebo: “Simply throwing more money at the system is tantamount to ‘placebo policy’: it may make some feel better but it won’t treat the cause.”
Ms Ley said a key focus of the Government was to lower the barriers patients face by reducing fragmentation across the health system and improving the coordination of care.
She said the Health Care Homes initiative was trialing a new way of funding the treatment of chronic and complex illnesses to ensure patients received integrated and coordinated care.
The Minister said the recent decision to inject an extra $2.9 billion into public hospitals was accompanied by a greater focus on patient outcomes, quality and safety.
Ms Ley recently suffered a hiccup on the campaign trail when she admitted that she had been overruled by Treasury and Finance in arguing against an extension of the Medicare rebate freeze.
But she told the AMA dinner that she looked forward to continue working with the medical profession to develop policies and identify efficiencies and savings so as to ensure that, in a constrained budgetary environment, every health dollar was used to maximum effect.
Adrian Rollins