Mental illness hits taxpayers for $7.3bn in welfare handouts
Welfare payments for people with mental health conditions and their carers is costing taxpayers $7.3 billion each year.
Health
Liberal backbenchers seek rethink on drugs
A group of Liberal backbenchers says the ‘war on drugs’ has been lost.
Lung cancer pill added to list
Australians with lung cancer could save as much as $90,000 a year after the medication Tagrisso is added to the PBS.
Increased body count swamping forensics
Victoria is struggling to keep up with its rising body count, with forensic pathologists swamped by the demand for autopsies.
Aged-care providers on notice
Aged-care providers have been warned by the royal commission into the sector not to stand in the way of staff giving evidence.
PM won’t risk dental showdown before poll
The $240m adult dental agreement ends on June 30 but Scott Morrison is avoiding negotiations with the states.
GP exodus from aged care homes
Doctors have blamed falling numbers of GPs seeing patients in nursing homes on poorly trained nurses and low Medicare rebates.
Elderly restraints to be regulated
Ken Wyatt has announced he will prepare “regulations” to protect nursing home residents against misuse of physical and chemical restraints.
More money for mental health aid
Regional health organisations will be given more money to spend on targeted mental health services.
Indigenous girls’ suicide spree spreads
The tragic toll of indigenous child suicide around Australia has risen further with the death of five girls in just nine days.
Ambulance gridlock at ‘basket case’ hospital
Paramedics have again hit out at Adelaide’s crisis-plagued hospital system.
Chinese herbal cough pill recalled
A Chinese herbal medicine company has issued an urgent recall of two batches of its products.
29 sexual assault reports in NDIS
A new disability watchdog that covers just two states has received 29 reports of sexual assault against NDIS participants.
Leaders call for pill test evidence
Two states have now flagged possible trials of illicit pill testing at music festivals.
Premier softens pill test stance
Gladys Berejiklian says she is open to pill testing at music festivals if the government is shown evidence it would save lives.
Festival drug deaths rise as risks ignored
A 20-year-old man in Victoria is the latest person to die from a suspected drug overdose at a music festival.
Labor risks free hand for insurers
Labor’s bid to examine health insurance premium increases may inadvertently reignite the industry’s push for deregulation.
Festival pill-testing ‘lacks accuracy’
The death at the weekend of Josh Tam, 22, at a NSW festival has stoked new debate about whether pill-testing should be allowed.
Raids to hit rogue health insurers
Tough new powers granted to the ombudsman have put the health insurance industry on notice of closer scrutiny.
Medicare control that almost was
The Howard government considered taking total control over Medicare provider numbers given to doctors.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health/page/6