Promoting private health insurance in Australia

Health Affairs

Volumn 20, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 152-161

  Willcox, Sharon ^a,b  

^a New South Wales Department of Health

^b GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; CHILD; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HEALTH INSURANCE; HUMAN; INFANT; LEGAL ASPECT; MIDDLE AGED; NEWBORN; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PUBLIC HEALTH; UNITED STATES;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; AUSTRALIA; CHILD; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; HEALTH CARE REFORM; HEALTH POLICY; HUMANS; INFANT; INFANT, NEWBORN; INSURANCE, HEALTH; MIDDLE AGED; NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS; PRIVATIZATION; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0346963898     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.20.3.152     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. The Medibank program was introduced in 1975 but was progressively dismantled following the return to power of a Liberal-National federal government. Its successor, Medicare, took effect in 1984, following the reelection of a Labor government.
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3. J.W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1995).
4. See, for example, S. Altman and T. Jackson, "Health Care in Australia: Lessons from Down Under," Health Affairs (Fall 1991): 129-146; G. Gray, "Access to Medical Care under Strain: New Pressures in Canada and Australia," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Low (December 1998): 905-947; and J. Hall, "Incremental Change in the Australian Health Care System," Health Affairs (May/June 1999): 95-110.
5. See, for example, S. Altman and T. Jackson, "Health Care in Australia: Lessons from Down Under," Health Affairs (Fall 1991): 129-146; G. Gray, "Access to Medical Care under Strain: New Pressures in Canada and Australia," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Low (December 1998): 905-947; and J. Hall, "Incremental Change in the Australian Health Care System," Health Affairs (May/June 1999): 95-110.
6. See, for example, S. Altman and T. Jackson, "Health Care in Australia: Lessons from Down Under," Health Affairs (Fall 1991): 129-146; G. Gray, "Access to Medical Care under Strain: New Pressures in Canada and Australia," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Low (December 1998): 905-947; and J. Hall, "Incremental Change in the Australian Health Care System," Health Affairs (May/June 1999): 95-110.
7. TQA Research, Health Care and Insurance, Australia 1997 (Melbourne: TQA Research, 1997).
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12. Industry Commission, Private Health Insurance, Report no. 57 (Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 1997).
13. This is based on the author's analysis of data from the Private Health Insurance Administration Council Annual Reports 1990-91 to 1999-2000. Analysis based on total hospital benefits paid to private hospitals per bed day indicates annual percentage growth as follows: 1990-91, 9.3 percent; 1991-92, 6.8 percent; 1992-93, 4.2 percent; 1993-94, 2.9 percent; 1994-95, 3.3 percent; 1995-96, 40.3 percent; 1996-97, 5.3 percent; 1997-98, 0.2 percent; 1998-99,0 percent; 1999-2000,5.1 percent.
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15. Dollar amounts are cited as U.S.$ in the paper, with a conversion rate equivalent to A$1 = $U.S.0.5427. Australian Financial Review (30 January 2001). Data are from Private Health Insurance Administration Council, Annual Report 1995-1996 (Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 1996).
16. Dollar amounts are cited as U.S.$ in the paper, with a conversion rate equivalent to A$1 = $U.S.0.5427. Australian Financial Review (30 January 2001). Data are from Private Health Insurance Administration Council, Annual Report 1995-1996 (Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 1996).
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22. Commonwealth of Australia, National Health Act 1953, Reprint 6, as in force 25 August 1998, Section 73BDA, Medical Purchaser-Provider Agreements.
23. Industry Commission, Private Health Insurance, Report no. 57.
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26. The increased health insurance coverage associated with the community rating reforms means that a greater share of the rebate is now flowing to new members.
27. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Report to the Australian Senate on Anti-Competitive and Other Practices by Health Funds and Providers in Relation to Private Health Insurance, for the Period Ending 31 December 1999 (Canberra: ACCC, 2000).
28. SJ. Duckett and T.J. Jackson, "The New Health Insurance Rebate: An Inefficient Way of Assisting Public Hospitals," Medical Journal of Australia 172, no. 9 (2000): 439-442.
29. Private Health Insurance Administration Council, Annual Report 1993-1999 (Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 1999).
30. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Health Insurance Survey, Australia, Catalogue no. 4335.0 (Canberra: ABS, June 1992).
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32. Private Health Insurance Administration Council, Annual Report 1998-1999.
33. SJ. Duckett and P. Agius, The Social Origins of Health and Well-Being: From the Planetary to the Molecular Conference Proceedings (Canberra: Australian National University, 2000).
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37. D.A. Stone, "The Struggle for the Soul of Health Insurance," Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law (Summer 1993): 286-317.
38. M. Wooldridge, Transcript of Interview, 7.30 Report, 12 May 1999.
39. C.E. Lindblom, "The Science of Muddling Through," Public Administration Review (Spring 1959): 79-88.
40. Editorial, "Criticism of 30 Percent Rebate: Trickle Becoming a Flood," Healthcover (Oct/Nov 2000): 1-5.