** Apologies for cross-postings **
Dear list members,
The Australian government has very recently introduced a "safety net" to
limit the amount of out-of-pocket co-payments to A$700 per year per
family (or A$300 per year for lower income families). Above that level,
the government's national health insurance system (Medicare) will
subsidise any further patient co-payments by 80%. Noone really knows how
it is going to impact on either access to care, or the cost of care in
the longer term.
I am contacting the health services research community to try and
identify examples of where similar "safety nets" have been introduced in
other countries. What happened to patient care-seeking behaviour -
e.g., did it succeed in increasing the perceived and actual
affordability for care? and for poorer people? What happened to the
patient-charging behaviour of medical providers such as GPs/family
practitioners or specialists - e.g., did they increase their patient
co-payments in the knowledge that the full impact of the increased
charges would be shared by the government?
I would be grateful for any suggestions that you may have, especially if
there are examples where the impacts of the introduction of the safety
net has been well evaluated.
Many thanks.
____________________________________________
Dr Rob Anderson [log in to unmask]
Senior Research Officer
Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation
University of Technology, Sydney
location: Level 2 Block D Building 5, 1-59 Quay Street, Haymarket, NSW
2000, Sydney, Australia.
postal: PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Sydney.
phone: +61 02 9514 4725 fax: +61 02 9514 4730
____________________________________________
For more information about CHERE visit:
http://www.chere.uts.edu.au
--
UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F
DISCLAIMER: This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain
confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not
read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If
you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the
individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority,
states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before
opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects.
|