Comment on It's funny how once a country has Universal Healthcare they never give it up.
CurlyWurlies4All@slrpnk.net 1 day ago
I appreciate the sentiment but let’s be real about Australia’s adoption of universal healthcare:
- Medibank begins in 1975 after the passing of legislation by a joint sitting of Parliament on 7 August 1974. It had only a short period of operation before the Whitlam government was dismissed in what amounted to an attempted coup by the conservatives.
- 1976–1981: The conservative Malcolm Fraser Coalition government unwinds Medibank, scaling back universal funding and introducing private options.
- On 1 February 1984 the highly controversial Medicare system was introduced. It established basic health care for all Australians. It offers free free or low-cost public hospital care, doctor visits, and bulk-billing supported by an income tax levy and creates a blended public system with private provider options.
- 1997: Following a failed attempt to end the Medicare scheme while in opposition, the Howard government introduces the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS). This penalises high-income earners an extra 1.00% if they do not hold private hospital insurance, explicitly designed to take pressure off the public system
- 2013: The Gillard Labor government and subsequent Abbott and Morrison governments put a “temporary” freeze on GP rebates as a budget-saving measure. This continues until 2022, as government rebates fail to rise with inflation or the true cost of running a clinic, GPs are increasingly forced to abandon bulk-billing and charge patients high out-of-pocket private fees effectively killing the system by proxy.
- 2014: The NDIS is established to create a parallel social insurance architecture for long-term disability supports are funded with a 0.5% Medicare levy increase but funding for the NDIS is instantly being outpaced by demand.
- 2024: Reforms by the Albanese government to curb escalating costs and tighten rules around plan budgets and provider registration cut millions from receiving care. However they also increase the rebate to make bulk billing once again viable for GPs.
The lesson is this. There are no permanent victories.
purrtastic@lemmy.nz 21 hours ago
Yes, the reality is more nuanced than this list implies. In the UK and NZ the system is being aggressively attacked with more and more private companies getting a foothold in the public system.