Health
28 June 2020
The Recovery Book: what Australian governments should do now
To help Australia recover from the COVID-19 recession, the Government should inject $70 billion to $90 billion in extra economic stimulus, including revamping and extending JobKeeper.
21 June 2020
Coming out of COVID-19 lockdown: the next steps for Australian health care
Australia has not yet won the battle against COVID-19, and coming out of lockdown risks a second wave of infections.
3 December 2019
Saving private health 2: Making private health insurance viable
The only way that private hospital insurance can survive as Australia’s population ages is to make insurance cheaper for younger, healthier people.
25 November 2019
Saving private health 1: reining in hospital costs and specialist bills
Private health insurance premiums could be cut by up to 10 per cent if private hospitals were made more efficient. And patients would save a further $350 million a year if greedy doctors stopped charging more than twice the Medicare Benefits Schedule fee.
15 July 2019
The history and purposes of private health insurance
The private health insurance industry fears it is in a death spiral, and politicians need to rethink whether or to what extent taxpayers should continue to subsidise the industry.
16 April 2019
Commonwealth Orange Book 2019: Policy priorities for the federal government
The winner of the 2019 federal election should defy the national mood of reform fatigue and stare down vested interests to pursue a targeted agenda to improve the lives of Australians. The Orange Book charts the policy priorities.
17 March 2019
Filling the gap: A universal dental care scheme for Australia
Australia should introduce a Medicare-style universal insurance scheme for dental care, so all Australians can go to the dentist when they need to. It would cost $5.6 billion a year and should be phased in over 10 years.
28 October 2018
State Orange Book 2018: Policy priorities for states and territories
State and territory governments can do more to improve the lives of Australians. In many cases, states are different because their governments adopted better policies. Every state should learn from the others and do better.
19 August 2018
Safer care saves money: How to improve patient care and save public money at the same time
Australia could save $1.5 billion a year on health spending by improving the safety of patient care. Safer hospital care doesn’t just reduce harm to patients, it saves money for taxpayers and frees up beds so other patients can be treated.
29 July 2018
Mapping primary care in Australia
Primary care policy needs an overhaul to ensure all Australians, especially the poor and the elderly, get the best possible health care. Many poorer Australians can’t afford to go to a GP when they need to or a dentist when they should, and people in rural and remote areas find it too hard to get to a pharmacist or medical specialist.