The Wire

Does Medicare, our universal healthcare system in Australia, need major surgery? Recently there’s been a lot of rhetoric about health reform on a state and federal level. Governments are being urged to adopt radical reforms to deal with pressure from improved technology and high consumer expectations. But not all economists agree that a shift to a more privatised system would necessarily benefit the consumer. Professor Jane Hall is the Director of the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation at the University of Technology, in Sydney. Dr Hall spoke to Alma Mistry who asked her if Medicare does need major surgery.