Hospital billing review scrapped
The states have scrapped plans to challenge claims public hospitals ‘harvest’ privately insured patients to offset costs.
Health
Super for IVF, but with a catch
Couples will still be granted early access to retirement savings to pay for IVF — but only if they have a diagnosed mental illness.
Fentanyl ‘epidemic’ a deadly threat
Up to 6000 people could die in Australia if the US experience of fentanyl is replicated here.
Health ‘rorters gaming system’
Doctors and providers accused of misusing Medicare are using lawyers to ‘game the system’, the Health Department has been told.
Rip-off fears on super for weight loss
Allowing early access to superannuation to pay for weight-loss surgery and other healthcare ‘could see people ripped off’.
Medicines bill set to jump
Analysts say the nation’s medicines bill is likely to spike because of lifestyle-related diseases, reaching up to $15.8bn a year.
Dingo’s campfire chats a dose of reality TV
Actor Ernie Dingo has returned from TV exile with a confronting and honest series of films about indigenous men.
Police called to target rorts on Medicare
The Health Department is working with police on a test case to seize the assets of Medicare rorters.
Professor backs permanent drug-test centres
A medical professor has backed the idea of a centralised drug-testing facility in capital cities, following a spate of overdoses.
‘Activism needed to stamp out bullying’
Bullying and sexism in the medical profession will require activism to resolve, the Medical Board has been told.
![EXCLUSIVE: A relaxed Julia Gillard was spotted at her beach side suburb of Brighton in Adelaide. Almost in time for the new year the former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard was getting exercise in briskly walking on the beach with a female friend. Julia wore a casual grey shirt, black pants and blue trainers and blended in with all the other morning walkers. Almost 5 years of the famous leadership spill involving her and Kevin Rudd. The two have recently reconciled and seemed to have put the past behind them. Julia looks much happier these days in retirement and keeps herself busy working on the board of Beyond Blue and touring the world giving talks. 01 Jan 2019 Pictured: Julia Gillard. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA330797_011.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/343963a3ebfca82603b2042b0440eb10?width=650)
Simplicity ‘key to mental health’
Julia Gillard has posted a message on the website of Beyond Blue, revealing how she coped with the stresses of political life.
Aged-care tsar eyes risky homes
New aged-care enforcer Janet Anderson says she will target providers that show a pattern of abuses and compliance breaches.
Board accused of trying to silence doctors
Doctors say a push to consider cultural sensitivities, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, undermines patient safety.
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.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health/page/7