Posted by Michael Wonder on 16 Apr 2018
Private health care in Australia: health policy’s wicked problem
16 April 2018 - The anguish expressed by many of the 1,200 respondents to the Consumers Health Forum’s Out of Pocket Pain survey highlights the widening gulf between the cost of modern medical care and the struggle of many Australians to pay for that care.
The survey conducted by CHF showed that more than a quarter of respondents treated for breast cancer incurred out of pocket costs of more than $10,000. For those with chronic auto-immune conditions like multiple sclerosis more than a third had costs of more than $10,000.
Pensioners and low-income earners, who still cling to their health insurance cover, found they could not afford the private treatment they had put by for over the years — despite ever-rising premiums — because of the gap costs that going private exposed them to. There were women whose shock at learning they had breast cancer turned to desperation when they realised the treatment and scans recommended by their doctor would cost their meagre means so dearly.
