Editorial:
Public health suffering a thousand cuts

Liberal politicians, some doctors and others who would profit from 
private health are attempting to convince everyone that there is a "crisis" 
in the public health system which has to be "fixed" by further cuts to 
funding and privatisation of public hospitals, and the emasculation of 
Medicare.

This is confirmed by a cynical statement in the most recent issue of the 
Australian Medical Association's (AMA) journal Australian Medicine 
which states that "the only successful strategy to rescue the private 
health funds is by getting the public to lose confidence in the Public 
Hospitals".

Echoing this strategy the Liberal Premiers of SA and WA also claim that 
there is a crisis and call for "fundamental reforms" including the means 
testing of public hospital patients. For them, "fundamental reforms" mean 
the privatisation of hospitals and the ditching of Medicare. The Coalition 
Parties in the Federal and State Governments want to replace Medicare with 
private health insurance whereby patients pay for their hospital and 
medical costs through exorbitant premiums to insurance companies. They also 
want to hand over public hospitals to private entrepreneurs as has already 
happened to some public hospitals.

To the extent that there is a crisis in public hospitals this has been a 
deliberate strategy of governments. Underfunding has forced hospitals to 
cut services and make savings. The extent to which public hospitals have 
adapted to the cuts and other pressures is reflected in figures given by 
Mike Steketee, writing in The Australian. While the number of cases 
treated in public hospitals rose from 3.3 million in 1993-94 to 3.75 
million in 1997-98 the number of patient days went down from 15.91 million 
in 1993-94 to 15.15 million in 1997-98.

The Federal Government is now spending $1.5 billion a year to bolster 
private health insurance by subsidising premiums. This is meant to attract 
new subscribers to private health insurance but it is already failing. This 
subsidy is mainly going to the more wealthy members of health insurance 
schemes who already had private insurance. The Doctors' Reform Society 
reports that this subsidy has only attracted an additional 50,000 new 
members and says that this money would have been far better spent if it had 
been injected into the public health system where it would have benefited 
everyone.

If this $1.5 billion per annum had been directed to medical purposes 
instead of to the assistance of the wealthy and private insurance funds, 
then the public health system would have no waiting lists, no ward 
closures, and vacant beds for emergency admissions. This $1.5 billion is 
theft, theft from the public hospital system, and part of the strategy to 
create a crisis in public health so that people turn to the private 
insurance companies and big business-owned for-profit, private hospitals.

The public health system is being deliberately sabotaged to create and 
justify a demand to fix what isn't' broken — except for the stupidities of 
the conservative forces.

The overwhelming majority of Australians want Medicare and the public 
hospital system. It is the Liberal politicians and some doctors who are 
sick — politically and economically. It is not the patients they care 
about but their business-men mates who see a way of waxing fat on people's 
inevitable illnesses.

To maintain and improve the public hospital and health system the Communist 
Party insists that the Medicare system be maintained, in its totality. It 
could be assisted by an increase in the Medicare levy paid by all 
taxpayers. The increased revenue to be dedicated to the public health 
system.

The subsidy payments for private insurance cover should be cancelled 
immediately and this money made available to the public hospital system.

The costly and inefficient private health insurance industry should be 
nationalised and the only insurance made available should be that offered 
by the far superior Medibank Private. "The Health Industry Commission 
spends three percent on costs to administer Medicare versus 13 percent for 
the private funds", says the Doctors' Reform Society. Medical fees should 
be regulated and controlled, as are the wages paid to workers.