In a move that would undermine the universality of Medicare, the APHA said people should be able to opt out of Medicare and use private insurance to cover all their health needs, with vouchers either used in public hospitals or put towards the cost of private hospital care.
Under the proposal, people would receive a voucher for Medicare services to which they were entitled with the value of the voucher calculated on an age/sex/health formula with, for example, young healthy people receiving less than older people needing more care.
(tm)Every Australian has an entitlement to a Medicare-funded level of public patient care. That entitlement has a dollar value (depending) on your age and your gender and your risk of incurring disease or illness,š APHA executive director Ian Chalmers told ABC Radio.
(tm)It’s possible to transfer that dollar value through a voucher to an agency who buys care other than Medicare, and with tight government regulation a voucher can be switched on the choice of an individual from Medicare to another agency.š Mr Chalmers said the proposal did not require anyone to pay more than they paid now.
(tm)The only difference will be that instead of all public patient care being purchased by Medicare, public patient care can be purchased for you by the agency of your choice.
(tm)There’s no difference to the level of care provided. The difference is who’s providing it and that people don’t have to pay twice for their medical care entitlement if they want to buy private health insurance as well.š Mr Chalmers said means testing could be used by higher-income earners receiving vouchers worth less than the 100 per cent entitlement. For example, someone earning $100,000 may receive a voucher worth only 80 per cent of the cost of a service.
CANBERRA, Dec 21 AAP – The federal government remained committed to its 1996 election promise that it would not dismantle Medicare, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
Mr Howard said he was ™absolutelyš committed to retaining Medicare as a universal public health funding system.
His comments come after the Australian Private Hospitals Association said people should be able to opt out of Medicare and use private insurance to cover all their health needs.
Under the proposal, people would receive a voucher for Medicare services to which they were entitled with the value of the voucher calculated on an age/sex/health formula with, for example, young healthy people receiving less than older people needing more care.
(tm)I’m not sure I fully understand what the private hospitals were getting at,š Mr Howard told Brisbane radio 4BC.
(tm)I’ll obviously get more detail about it during the day.
(tm)But irrespective of what they’re saying, we have a commitment to Medicare and we won’t be walking away from it.š Health Minister Michael Wooldridge also issued a statement saying he welcomed policy debate on the issue, but the government had a clear commitment to retaining Medicare in its entirety.
(tm)I suggest that the industry would be well advised to direct their attention to other issues, in particular the 30 per cent rebate on private health insurance which comes into effect on New Year’s Day 1999,š he said.
Diversify, gap, full range of health.
Direct competition.
Get rid of community rating.
End cost shifting. State to cwealth.
Discount TME ..higher income pay more.
Will puit back the 30 per cent rebate…shd never have gone on.
Shd be committed to universal health care and no-one being ruined by health charges, not Medicare per se. Which can be bled to death. Bigger gap fewer bulk billers, but less health insurance.