Over their lifetime, individuals typically make many decisions about health and health care. Theoretical approaches to decision making have been dominated by a rational, analytic approach which assumes that problems are relatively fixed and well-defined and which have foreseeable and measurable...

Recent OECD country comparative evidence suggests that Australia?s mixed public-private health system does a good job in ensuring high and fairly equal access to doctor, hospital and dental care services. This paper provides some further analysis of the same data from the Australian National...

This paper analyses the policy implications for health insurance markets of the development of genetic testing. A central issue surrounding this development is whether insurers should be allowed access to the information provided by such tests. The paper first shows that on efficiency grounds...

The inter-relationship between private health insurance cover and hospital utilisation is complex. The current policy approach in Australia appears to rely on relatively simple models of the relationships between health insurance coverage, and public and private hospital use. There is...

In many developed countries, budgetary pressures have made government investigate private insurance to reduce pressure on their public health system. Between 1997 and 2000 the Australian government implemented a series of reforms intended to increase enrollment in private health insurance and...

This discussion paper provides an introduction to the estimation of benefits in economic evaluation. The concept of benefits, as something worth making a sacrifice to obtain, is explained. The issue of what the benefits of health care is discussed. Methods for the identification of benefits are...

This paper gives an overview of evaluations of obstetric early discharge schemes at three hospitals in Western Sydney Area Health Service. Satisfaction of early discharge and hospital clients with their postnatal care, the reasons given by eligible women who chose not to participate in the...

Until the 1996 Federal election, the Liberal Party remained committed to the repeal of Medicare. In that election the Liberal platform endorsed the continuation of Medicare, and support for private health insurance. Since then the Government has pursued a strategy of support for private health...

The last two decades have seen major changes to the medical indemnity system in Australia, the number and size of claims has soared, cover type has been restricted, premiums have become risk-rated and there has been a move from an unregulated system of mutual organisations offering discretionary...

Australia is a federation of states, which provides its residents with universal access to health care and has managed to control total health care expenditure to around 8.4% of GDP in 1996/97. This has not only been achieved through a strong centrally funded health care system, but Australia...