Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and Crikey deputy editor Jason Whittaker discuss the the latest COAG health reform agreement and how the politics will play out.
Australian health care
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Health reform: how to get less of what may not be best for us
With so many forces driving more and more health spending, surely it’s time you set up The Less is More Institute to identify and advocate for initiatives to reduce the use of health services that are unnecessary, harmful or not good value.
Essential: Voters back health plan, optimistic about change
Kevin Rudd has won support for his sweeping health reforms among voters, according to a new Essential Research poll, with most believing it will have a positive impact on health services.
Health ID cards unleash ‘scary’ Little Brothers
The Healthcare Identifiers Bill introduced last Wednesday is sketchy at best, and Health Minister Nicola Roxon has already been forced into releasing an equally sketchy draft of the accompanying regulations on Friday.
Ten well-kept secrets about health in Australia
Dr Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, offers 10 well-kept secrets about the state of health in Australia.
Safety needs to be the focus of any changes to maternity services
Professor Barclay et al quite outrageously suggest that the obstetric system currently in place has increased suffering and injury to women and infants, writes Dr Ted Weaver.
Remember the 2020 summit? Whatever happened to those Big Ideas…?
The Rudd Government may have hit the ground reviewing but that hasn’t meant it was totally in tune with the collective mindset of a number of summit groups, write Bernard Keane and Eleri Harris.
Agnostics need faith in private hospital sector
You can’t be agnostic when the whole point of contracting out public services is to gain the cost and productivity benefits of the more efficient private sector, writes Jeremy Sammut.
How a clever snip could save millions of health dollars
Why did the razor gang miss $34.5 million in savings, writes Dr Lesley Russell.
Labor’s new federalism shows its first cracks
While the cooperative Labor federalism promised by Kevin Rudd had a relaxed start in late 2007, we’re now seeing the reality of different levels of government with different policy agendas and political needs trying to work together, writes Bernard Keane.
Governments urged to lead on patient safety
Around the world, 10,000 people die each day as a result of mistakes, complications and other harms caused by their acute health care. This makes iatrogenic harm in health care the third biggest killer…
