If you turned 31 this year, you have until 1 July to avoid a fee loading on private health cover, but experts say there’s no need to panic-buy
Private health insurance in Australia is kind of an oxymoron. “Every Australian already has health insurance: Medicare,” says Uta Mihm of consumer advocacy group Choice.
So why does it exist here at all? Well, that’s the million dollar question. Firstly, it’s important to note that “health insurance” in Australia actually refers to two different types of cover: private hospital cover and extras cover. The former will pay for you to receive treatment in private hospitals, where you’ll stay in comfortable rooms and get shorter wait times for elective surgery. Extras cover is meant to reduce the cost of things like dental, optical and massage.
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Australian government to pump $1bn into health and family violence services as coronavirus spreads
Telehealth, mental health and national domestic violence initiative to receive major boosts as economic effects of Covid-19 intensify
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The Morrison government will expand funding for telehealth, domestic violence support and mental health services, as well as boosting the emergency relief delivered through charities and community organisations, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Australia passes 3,600 and the national death toll stands at 14.
The government will announce on Sunday morning that it is allocating more than $1bn to a range of support services, including $669m to expand Medicare-subsidised telehealth services and $150m under the national domestic violence initiative. The government says there has been a surge in the number of Google searches looking for support services for domestic violence during the pandemic.
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No Obamacare replacement 3 years after Trump’s promise to ‘immediately’ change it
Nearly three years after taking office, Americans still are waiting for Trump's big health insurance reveal. Prescription drug prices have edged lower, but with major legislation stuck in Congress it's unclear if that relief is the start of a trend or merely a blip.
Google is secretively collecting health data, and American workers should be worried
Earlier this month, Google confirmed it is collecting the comprehensive health histories of millions of Americans, through a partnership with the largest nonprofit health system in the US. This news should concern us all, but especially anyone who isn’t self-employed.
The...
Doctors are prescribing off-label nicotine replacements for teens addicted to vaping
With over 800 cases and 12 deaths attributed to a mysterious vaping-related pulmonary illness (VAPI) in the United States, a growing number of teens have been going to the family doctor with concerns about their e-cigarette vaping habits....
The US just promised to adopt universal health care
Every single member of the UN doubled-down today on a commitment to provide universal health coverage to their citizens. The fact that the US will be among them is perhaps evidence of how disconnected these declarations can be from actual domestic political agendas.
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A radical approach to confronting addiction puts human connection first
In 2015, Jennifer Nicolaisen was working in consulting and getting by some days on just two hours of sleep. She was a 27-year-old statistician in northern Virginia, basking in what she called “rising star energy”—the glow that came from approval from her boss, her c...
For rural America, Medicare for All is a matter of life or death | Barb Kalbach
Insurance firms are gobbling up airtime in Iowa to attack Medicare for All. They claim it would hurt the very same hospitals their business model has spent years bleeding dry
Rural hospitals are often the economic heart of a community. Worse, when minutes mean the difference between life and death, every hospital that closes leaves patients in danger. Since 2010, 113 rural hospitals have closed their doors, leaving more than 30 million Americans an hour or more away from critical car...