Primary care policy needs an overhaul to ensure all
Australians, especially the poor and the elderly, get the best possible health
care, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
Australians' access to general practice varies according to
their wealth. Two-thirds of patients are bulk-billed for all their visits to
the GP, but the financial barriers for those who are not can be high. About 4
per cent of Australians say they delay seeing a GP because of the cost.
The report finds that the funding, organisation and
management of primary care has not kept pace with changes to disease patterns,
the economic pressure on health services, and technological
advances.You can download the report for free here.
Hal Swerissen, Stephen Duckett, and Greg Moran. (2018). Mapping primary care in Australia. Grattan Institute.
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