In Your Say, readers inform Crikey what they give thought to our tales. At this time you react to the Medicare fraud reviews, our “sovereign” state, and on journalists who ought to ask for forgiveness.
Dr Paul Nisselle writes: Bob Hawke opened a Pandora’s field when he waved his inexperienced and gold card and stated: “That is all you’ll need on your healthcare.” Our healthcare has been chronically underfunded for a lot of, a few years. Healthcare prices have soared on account of an ageing inhabitants, a rising inhabitants, new medicine costing large sums, an explosion in elective surgical procedure and so on. Medicare was by no means supposed to be a common well being insurance coverage scheme; it was and stays a well being price reimbursement scheme. Bulk-billing, that means task of the Medicare profit to the physician on the time of service, processed in bulk, meant there was no price met by the affected person on the level of service.
There was no proof superior to again up the assertion the “as much as $8 billion” in Medicare fraud. “As much as” is a normal obfuscation when there isn’t a information to assist the determine. Sure, there’s fraud. We will need to have higher techniques of surveillance to detect and punish it, no query. However Well being Minister Mark Butler, it’s your job get the system proper — do away with the loopholes and ensure good drugs is correctly funded.
The Crimes Act defines fraud as knowingly issuing a doc which can be utilized to inappropriately acquire a profit. Within the Well being Insurance coverage Act, the phrase “knowingly” is eliminated. Thus the burden is positioned completely on the physician to know the arcane trivialities of the Medicare Advantages Schedule. The overwhelming majority of the medical doctors I do know aren’t rorting the system and never wilfully overservicing. That $8 billion determine is simply improper.
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Professor Fiona Haines writes: Sure, Medicare fraud is a matter — and a severe one. So, too, is an excessively advanced Medicare numbering system to handle authorities (our) funds — and overworked medical doctors who’re pushed to the restrict. Can we please have a dialog that isn’t based mostly on false binaries — that if one assertion is true (e.g. Medicare fraud), the opposite shouldn’t be (overly advanced Medicare quantity system), or the reverse? A royal fee might be the place to do that, however we’d like one premised on the complexity of the issue of preserving Australians wholesome — equitably and sustainably — not one narrowly targeted on “an overhaul of Medicare” with options already in thoughts.
Peter Gaskin writes: The investigation is a joke that makes robodebt look benign. Medicare is simply too vital to be politicised like this — it wants a a lot nearer look with out grandstanding reporting. (I actually loved how the article was written.)
Malcolm Harrison writes: In a current dialog with my physician, he informed me his clinic goes to should introduce hole funds, not due to inflation, however as a result of the federal government is not going to elevate the speed presently supplied and has refused to take action for years. By his metric, governments are intentionally undermining the bulk-billing course of so needed for these on fastened incomes similar to pensions. So it appears Invoice Shorten was proper in any case when some years in the past he stated the Lib-Nats had been making an attempt to hole out the Medicare system. Sadly it additionally appears Labor gained’t elevate the hole funds both.
Invoice Wallace writes: Australia can’t rely on abroad suppliers. It must have the potential to face by itself two toes. Half of what’s required is a producing functionality — heavy trade, medicines, expertise and so on and a workforce to assist it. Clearly constructing resilience into all points of social and enterprise life must be a long-term goal with a plan to get there. Within the meantime, purchases to fill short-term gaps are OK, however not the fascinating long-term answer.
Edward Down writes: I completely agree with the push for sovereign functionality in important industries. The supposed additional “price” is nonsense. The cash stays in Australia, circulates in Australia, and because of the multiplier impact (go learn an economics textbook) the federal government and the financial system clip the ticket each time the cash goes spherical. This push for sovereign trade, with the total financial advantages being costed, may very well show to be extra worthwhile than sending cash abroad to go spherical and spherical in another person’s financial system. Lack of expert labour is a particular downside, however might be solved within the medium time period by immigration. There is no such thing as a scarcity of expert folks wanting to maneuver to one of the best nation on earth.
Richard Grey writes: Whereas I typically like studying Bernard Keane’s articles I feel he’s missed just a few factors right here. Australia (till contaminated with Liberal governments) had in depth manufacturing capability and functionality. We used to make our personal trains, ferries and — dare I say — missiles. Effectively, admittedly the missiles weren’t superb however the trains and ferries served and proceed to serve Australian commuters very effectively.
Additionally, the explanation the Rail, Tram and Bus Union advocates for regionally made trains is that the brand new South Korean-built trains aren’t match for function and have vital issues of safety, similar to extraordinarily poor digital camera visibility within the moist which may result in passengers being caught in doorways. Moreover, the intense scarcity of some prescription medicines highlights the shortage of native manufacturing and reveals up when world provide chains are disrupted.
Come on, Bernard, shake off your neoliberal hat.
Colin Ross writes: The print media specifically is a mishmash of reporting, journalism and commentary. Nevertheless, it appears that evidently nobody needs to be referred to as a reporter. Everybody needs to be referred to as a journalist and entitled to an opinion, which makes them a commentator — usually on topics on which they haven’t any specific experience. Olivier Bost has loads of counterparts in Australia who ought to be making mea culpas.
Frank Nicholson writes: Sure, companies ought to be legislated to report all information breaches to affected people. They usually shouldn’t be allowed to maintain people’ private info on file any longer than essential to undertake their work. This contains wiping private info when folks go away an organisation whether or not from employment, contract for providers and so on.
I just lately obtained a letter from my former employer that it had had a knowledge breach on its payroll software program provider, saying it was notified in August 2022 that my information was exfiltrated (stolen). The cyberattack occurred in November 2021 and I used to be suggested in September 2022. I had retired from the corporate in 2019. Why do these corporations hold info relationship again to date?
Gerard De Ruyter writes: I consider they do usually work, nevertheless it depends upon what you imply by “work”. For those who imply stunts finished by, say, Extinction Riot, which fights for actual motion on local weather change, and also you ask does gluing arms to the bottom in entrance of Parliament Home work, does it resolve local weather change? In fact not. Does it appeal to media? Usually it does. However then it is advisable to ask is it good or unhealthy media. Or is all media good media? In my opinion, if the stunt attracts any media, it has labored because it will get folks considering, speaking about XR and what it needs. Viewers could have their very own opinions, nevertheless it retains local weather change of their minds for some time. XR additionally writes to stakeholders urging motion, holds “regular” protest marches, and lobbies native members. It doesn’t solely do stunts.
Lynn Benn writes: I’ve been a part of the environmental/local weather motion for a few years. What the media and the general public don’t perceive is the colossal effort that has been put in by that neighborhood: lobbying, petitions, networking with pollies, social media campaigns, writing to papers, outreach at markets and area days, marches, rallies and so on and so on. They’ve taken an enormous toll. Two folks gluing themselves to a portray will get way more media protection than any variety of company workplace sit-ins. The truth that the media fails to cowl most non-confrontational protests means they’re complicit in driving the pattern to extra excessive actions. Sadly that is what it takes to get media consideration. The Picasso was referred to as Battle and Famine, each of which have gotten more and more frequent due to our lack of local weather motion. Nearly not one of the protection talked about that regardless of it being within the press launch.
I additionally take concern along with your characterisation of the “spectrum” of activists. In my expertise the folks most lively on this area are sometimes the identical folks on the bottom supporting stricken communities and doing citizen science and wildlife restoration work. On motivation it is extremely easy: we need to cease the destruction of the ecosystem that helps us. We’re quickly going within the improper path. Labor could also be much less unhealthy than the earlier authorities however its enthusiasm for opening up coal and fuel fields reveals that it doesn’t get the urgency of the issue we face. The query shouldn’t be “Do protest stunts work?” however “What’s going to it truly take for our society to understand the hazard and take severe motion?”
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Originally published at Gold Coast News HQ
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