Yesterday
Albanese hit hard by live fire from all sides
From Chinese warships, to Trump’s tariffs, to Australia’s sense of itself, Anthony Albanese is struggling to show he has convincing answers.
February
Ramsay says Labor’s premium hike will not cover soaring hospital costs
Still, shares in the country’s largest private hospital operator rose sharply after it appointed Goldman Sachs to assess the sale of its European business.
Timing of health insurance rise another sign an election is nigh
In the current environment, no such proclamation would be complete without the counterfactual, otherwise known as Peter Dutton.
Health insurance premiums to rise 3.7pc in new cost-of-living hit
Health Minister Mark Butler has signed off on an above-inflation hike in private health insurance premiums, the biggest rise since 2018.
Big pharma sues GenesisCare over Labor-endorsed copycat cancer drug
Swiss pharma giant Novartis is taking legal action against the Australian cancer care provider as a dispute over how to fund and regulate nuclear medicines escalates.
Dutton to match Labor’s GP funding in big-spending campaign pledge
The opposition leader promises to match Labor’s $8.5 billion GP funding pledge as he seeks to defend his record on health.
Why a Mediscare campaign won’t be so easy this time around
Labor’s Medicare package offers politically popular relief for GP visits but may not convince voters losing confidence in Australia’s public health system.
Doctors say not all GP visits will be free under Labor plan
Medical professionals welcome the $8.5 billion Medicare overhaul but urge targeted funding to care for patients who need it most.
Bulk billing pledge is Mediscare with an $8.5b price tag
The new spending, alongside $600 million to boost the supply of nurses and general practice doctors, will be added to the nation’s burgeoning debt and structural deficit pile.
Albanese makes $8.5b Medicare overhaul his signature election policy
The prime minister will make Medicare the centrepiece of his re-election campaign, promising to spend big to eliminate patient costs for visits to the doctor.
Healthscope to close maternity wards in Darwin and Hobart
The Coalition has seized on the shutdowns to accuse Labor of failing to take action to stop the closure of critical health service
Catholic Health’s new plan to fix hospitals at ‘breaking point’
Private hospital groups have sent Labor a package of proposals they say can save the struggling sector.
Is Ramsay Health Care whipping itself into a frenzy?
The private hospital lobby is turning on itself and Labor is making mileage from it.
Medical costs up, bulk billing down across Australia: report
Access to GPs is shaping up as a contentious issue for the coming federal election.
PM tops up hospital funding, but states still lag on NDIS reform
The states will receive an extra $1.7 billion in hospital funding next year under a deal that is supposed to relieve the financial burden of the NDIS.
January
Labor launches federal review of puberty blockers
Health Minister Mark Butler says national guidelines will be established for the treatment of trans and gender diverse children.
Health insurers baulk at Labor pitch to expand maternity cover
Changes floated by the Health Department include forcing funds to pay more for hospital-in-the-home programs to take pressure off private hospitals.
Butler rejects health insurers’ second bid to lift prices
Health Minister Mark Butler has rejected a second round of requests from private health insurers to increase customer premiums, saying they need to help more during the cost-of-living crisis.
Mediscare ‘he said, she said’ insults voters’ intelligence
A Labor-Coalition electoral clash over bulk billing is not only foolish, but masks the fact that so much more needs to be done to keep our healthcare system fit for purpose.
December 2024
Only one thing can end the $22b private health war
Brookfield’s latest fund injection into Healthscope is more evidence of the need for the government to step in to try to resolve a desperate and messy issue.