Leah Newhouse/Pexels Sugary drinks cause weight gain and increase the risk of a range of diseases, including diabetes. The evidence shows that well-designed taxes can reduce sugary drink sales, cause people to choose healthier options and get manufacturers to reduce the sugar in their drinks. And although these taxes haven’t been around long, there are already signs that they are making people healthier. It’s time for Australia to catch up to the rest of the world and introduce a tax on sugary drinks. As our new Grattan Institute report shows, doing so could mean the average Australian drinks ..read more

Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery that covers everything from removing cysts to hip replacements. The Australian Medical Association (AMA), a powerful doctors’ lobby group, has called on the federal government to allocate more than A$2 billion over two years to reduce elective surgery waiting times. While the Albanese government pledged this week to spend more on public hospitals, a substantial reduction in elective surgery waiting times won’t happen ..read more

stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. This comes after the government tripled the incentive payment for GPs to bulk bill concession-card holders and children under 16 for most consultations. The new data confirms the December-quarter data, which shows the increased bulk billing incentive, announced in the 2023 budget, arrested the decline in bulk billing caused by the almost decade-long freeze in rebates under the previous government. The decline in bulk billing rates was affecting access to care. About 1.2 millio ..read more

Rostislav_Sedlacek/Shutterstock Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking drugs like Ozempic to lose weight. But what do we actually know about them? This month, The Conversation’s experts explore their rise, impact and potential consequences. You’ve no doubt heard of Ozempic but have you heard of Wegovy? They’re both brand names of the drug semaglutide, which is currently in short supply worldwide. Ozempic is a lower dose of semaglutide, and is approved and used to treat diabetes in Australia. Wegovovy is approved to treat obesity but is not yet available in Australia. Shortages of ..read more

iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay for out-of-pocket. But another form of bulk billing is in the news ahead of May’s federal budget – bulk billing of pathology testing, such as blood tests. This relates to the fees pathology companies receive from Medicare to perform out-of-hospital laboratory tests, the type your GP might order to help diagnose or monitor disease. These pathology fees have been frozen for almost a quarter of a century. Is that fair? Obviously not, argues Australian Pathology, which represents private patho ..read more

Medical debt can have devastating consequences. PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier via Getty Images One in 10 Americans carry medical debt, while 2 in 5 are underinsured and at risk of not being able to pay their medical bills. This burden crushes millions of families under mounting bills and contributes to the widening gap between rich and poor. Some relief has come with a wave of debt buyouts by county and city governments, charities and even fast-food restaurants that pay pennies on the dollar to clear enormous balances. But as a health policy and economics researcher who studies out-of-pocket medical ..read more

Its price will take your breath away. Brian Jackson/Getty Images The price of asthma medication has soared in the U.S. over the past decade and a half. The jump – in some cases from around a little over US$10 to almost $100 for an inhaler – has meant that patients in need of asthma-related products often struggle to buy them. Others simply can’t afford them. To make matters worse, asthma disproportionately affects lower-income patients. Black, Hispanic and Indigenous communities have the highest asthma rates. They also shoulder the heaviest burden of asthma-related deaths and hospitalizations ..read more

Shutterstock Each year, more than 2,500 Australians die from diseases linked to eating too much salt. We shouldn’t be putting up with so much unnecessary illness, mainly from heart disease and strokes, and so many deaths. As a new Grattan Institute report shows, there are practical steps the federal government can take to save lives, reduce health spending and help the economy. Read more: Essays on health: how food companies can sneak bias into scientific research We eat too much salt, with deadly consequences Eating too much salt is bad for your health. It raises blood pressure, which increas ..read more

Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio The federal government has, for a long time, encouraged Australians to get private health insurance, in an attempt to reduce the financial burden on the public health system. To make private health insurance more attractive, the government has a strategy of carrots and sticks. Low-income and older people receive subsidies through “premium rebates”. High-income earners without the right policy face the Medicare Levy Surcharge, ranging from 1 to 1.5% of their taxable income. The effectiveness of these subsidies is regularly debated, with questions about whether the A$6.7 ..read more

Shutterstock The Australian government spends A$6.7 billion a year on private health insurance rebates. These rebates are the government’s contribution towards the costs of individuals’ premiums. But our analysis shows higher rebates for people aged 65 and older are not doing much to encourage them to sign up for private hospital cover, the very group who may benefit the most from it. This and other research point to these rebates largely going to people on higher incomes, ones who’d be more likely to buy private health insurance anyway. Read more: The private health insurance rebate has cost ..read more