Health insurance design: choices, consumer behavior and policy challenges . Rising health costs is a global challenge. Creating an efficient health insurance system is a key policy concern in all developed countries. This project aims to study choices, consumer behaviors, and policy challenges in two health insurance markets: Australian private health insurance (PHI) and US Medicare prescription drug insurance.
Expected outcomes include new evidence needed to develop a new framework for PHI, ne ....Health insurance design: choices, consumer behavior and policy challenges . Rising health costs is a global challenge. Creating an efficient health insurance system is a key policy concern in all developed countries. This project aims to study choices, consumer behaviors, and policy challenges in two health insurance markets: Australian private health insurance (PHI) and US Medicare prescription drug insurance.
Expected outcomes include new evidence needed to develop a new framework for PHI, new knowledge on how consumers respond to complex pricing structures, and new policy proposals to improve the overall efficiency of the health system. The research will benefit the re-design of PHI and the health system to improve Australians’ health while saving health costs.
Read moreRead less
Mis-reporting, adaptation and anchoring: the implications for self assessed health. In terms of targeting scarce public health resources, information concerning the true health status of different social groups is important. This project will provide more accurate information on the health of the Australian population using data already collected on a routine basis. Resources can then be targeted to reduce health inequalities.
Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss ....Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss. The proposed model, an international first, will be a powerful tool to comprehensively model the cost impacts of illness and simulate policy options related to health and productivity. This will provide answers to critical policy questions for government with potential significant economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Rural General Practitioners in Australia: Costs, Returns and Relative Work Value of Rural Compared with Urban Private General Practitioners. Aims:
* To conduct a rurally focused study of GPs in Australia, to address rural GPs' concerns about remuneration, and consumers' concerns about access to rural GPs.
* To examine costs, prices, returns and work value differentials between rural and urban GPs.
Significance:
* The first systematic economic evaluation of rural GP remuneration and work valu ....Rural General Practitioners in Australia: Costs, Returns and Relative Work Value of Rural Compared with Urban Private General Practitioners. Aims:
* To conduct a rurally focused study of GPs in Australia, to address rural GPs' concerns about remuneration, and consumers' concerns about access to rural GPs.
* To examine costs, prices, returns and work value differentials between rural and urban GPs.
Significance:
* The first systematic economic evaluation of rural GP remuneration and work value in Australia.
* Reflection of the profession's geographical heterogeneity in policy recommendations.
Expected outcomes:
* Improved measurements of effects of geographcial location on costs, remuneration and relative work value of rural GPs.
* Improved understanding of effects of differential rates of GP bulk-billing.Read moreRead less
Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this stud ....Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this study will explore their impact upon the hospital system. Evidence-based strategies are needed to improve the accountability of service providers and regulators. Social and economic benefits flow from empowering patients and from improving hospital performance.Read moreRead less
The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling t ....The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling tools to help them make sound decisions. This project aims to redress this situation, by constructing a microsimulation model of the health sector, with a capacity to assess the likely distributional impact of possible policy changes and their revenue or expenditure implications.Read moreRead less
Futile treatment at the end of life: legal, policy, sociological and economic perspectives. This project explores why and how often doctors provide treatment they believe will not benefit a patient. The project will help us to avoid harm to patients and their families caused by burdensome and unnecessary treatment, and ensure that limited community health resources are spent wisely.
The health implications of uncertain child support payments for children in low-income single parent families. The study will clarify the implications of child support policy by focussing on the economic, social and health impacts for low-income children. These findings will: provide single parents, schools and communities with insight into the process of promoting the social inclusion of low-income children; enable schools and social welfare agencies to design programs and services to meet the ....The health implications of uncertain child support payments for children in low-income single parent families. The study will clarify the implications of child support policy by focussing on the economic, social and health impacts for low-income children. These findings will: provide single parents, schools and communities with insight into the process of promoting the social inclusion of low-income children; enable schools and social welfare agencies to design programs and services to meet the needs of low-income single parent families; provide data for continued child support policy review and development; and contribute to the evidence base for ongoing debates such as the effect of poverty on child social inclusion and how children experience social inclusion.Read moreRead less
Walking my path: NSW Indigenous LGBTIQ+ peoples' experiences & aspirations. There is little known about the experiences, needs and aspirations of Indigenous gender and/or sexuality diverse peoples in New South Wales. This means that government, corporate and community sectors lack information on how to secure their social, economic and cultural inclusion. In collaboration with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations, the project will create new knowledge about the key events and expe ....Walking my path: NSW Indigenous LGBTIQ+ peoples' experiences & aspirations. There is little known about the experiences, needs and aspirations of Indigenous gender and/or sexuality diverse peoples in New South Wales. This means that government, corporate and community sectors lack information on how to secure their social, economic and cultural inclusion. In collaboration with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations, the project will create new knowledge about the key events and experiences shaping Indigenous gender/sexuality diverse peoples' immediate needs and longer-term aspirations in NSW. This will inform the development of culturally and gender/sexuality appropriate service provision and promote social cohesion and community (re)connections through engagement with community, economy and culture. Read moreRead less
A system wide analysis of health financing equity in Cambodia. This project aims to evaluate equity in health care financing in Cambodia using state of the art methods such as financial and benefit incidence analysis. The project aims to produce novel results by integrating both public and private sectors of the health system, in place of the traditional public sector focus alone thereby enabling a 'whole-system' approach to the assessment of equity in health systems financing. Strengthening the ....A system wide analysis of health financing equity in Cambodia. This project aims to evaluate equity in health care financing in Cambodia using state of the art methods such as financial and benefit incidence analysis. The project aims to produce novel results by integrating both public and private sectors of the health system, in place of the traditional public sector focus alone thereby enabling a 'whole-system' approach to the assessment of equity in health systems financing. Strengthening the health systems of countries such as Cambodia by developing more predictable and sustainable sources of funding, will not only benefit Cambodia but also enable donors such as Australia to more effectively target their substantial aid investments to promote social and economic stability in the region.Read moreRead less