Is universal health care in Australia doomed? - Australian Fabians

Is universal health care in Australia doomed?

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Published
06 July 2014
Topics
Society and community services
Health and Aging
podcast

Australia has one of the best public health systems in the world, based on universal access through Medicare.

But we're being told that the cost of the public health system is unsustainable, with too many people visiting GPs while hospital waiting lists grow.

The Federal Government says the answer to charge a fee to visit a GP, and has cut billions of dollars from the health budget telling the States to figure out how to fund their hospitals.

Is this the beginning of the end of universal health care in Australia? Can we equitably and sustainably fund health care for all Australians? And is the private health system helping to relive the burden on the public system or undermining it?

Speakers:
* Gavin Jennings - Shadow Health Minister, Victorian Labor Party
*Dr. Stephen Duckett - Health Program Director, Grattan Institute
*Meredith Carter, Victorian Medicate Action Group

 

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