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Terry Barnes

September

Moira Deeming arrives at the Federal Court for day one of her ten-day trial for defamation against Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto.

Liberals desperately need to end the Pesutto-Deeming drama

A climb down by both sides in this libel case would better for the Victorian Liberals than a damning Federal Court judgment.

August

Federal health minister Mark Butler is reviewing the financial health of private hospitals, testing operators’ claims of being dudded by insurers.

Health insurance shouldn’t be private hospitals’ field of dreams

Instead of protecting private hospitals from predatory insurers, an obsolete contract framework protects operators from full accountability for inefficiencies and misjudgments.

June

Just as the All Blacks have a permanent dominance over the Wallabies, the Pharmacy Guild invariably wins every five-year negotiation.

Pharmacists lost 60-day battle, but won war with Chemist Warehouse

The most powerful lobby group in the nation has convinced Labor to stop its competitor from giving customers a $1 discount on medicines.

May 2023

health minister Mark Butler told the National Press Club, ‘The case for reform is now urgent. We can’t keep trying to treat 21st century Australia with 1980s Medicare’.

Labor puts another fiscal Band-Aid over Medicare reform

GP bulk billing is nearly 90 per cent, yet the government claims the sky is falling to justify a costly, unnecessary, politically driven splurge on incentives in the budget.

January 2023

More federal GP money is not a panacea for misfiring hospitals

The Andrews-Perrottet alliance handballs health problems to others

Anthony Albanese should hear out calls by state premiers for more federal GP funding. Then make it clear why he is not going to comply.

April 2022

Anne Ruston was wrong to recant her views on the sustainability of Medicare.

Healthcare promises that just can’t be kept

Neither the Coalition nor Labor can go on pretending that health spending is sustainable in its present form.

December 2021

Jessica Hromas

In a market economy, pharmacists cannot be a protected species

The Pharmacy Guild is already wielding its political clout to stop big retailers threatening its legalised monopoly.

May 2021

The only solid reform announced addresses a genuine rort that needlessly adds to premiums; the cost of prostheses and medical devices for privately insured patients.

Five reforms that will make private health more sustainable

Despite the entire health sector reaching a post-COVID-19 crossroads, the budget kicked significant change to private health insurance down the road, again. 

August 2020

Aged care has been sub-contracted away from the family.

Aged care can't compete with rent-seekers and vested interests

In a political zero-sum game where the squeakiest wheels get the fiscal grease, aged care consistently misses out.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/terry-barnes-p4yw0j