Plus ça change

I mean no disrespect to my Australian hosts when I say that I've seen this all before.  The details differ, but the same underlying themes emerge. And when stories are placed side by side, it can be confusing to the public.In Australia, the government strongly encourages private health insurance coverage for a portion of the population, a policy that was designed to reduce overcrowding in the public hospitals.  There are a whole series of regulations that influence both corporate and individual behavior in this arena.  These rules have essentially created the private health insurance market in the country. As noted just a few days ago, the private hospitals in the country want to assure their investors that the demand for health care services will not diminish over the next several years.  They cite underlying demographic factors:In a strident statement Ramsay's Mr Rex said the report failed to consider further utilisation growth linked to the ageing population. "Macquarie's report incorrectly concludes that the modest impact of ageing in the past means that the impact will be minimal in the future," he said. "But it is the future impact of ageing – the baby boomers moving into the 60-70 year bracket - that needs to be considered... We have not yet felt the ageing impact – it is yet to come."Those who provide private health insurance to cover patients for these services have understandably been increasing premiums to cover the costs.&n...
Source: Not running a hospital - Category: Hospital Management Source Type: blogs