The election effectively led to bipartisan support for Medicare and it was unchanged during the 12 years of the Howard government from The Abbott government, however, seeks to undermine the universality of Medicare with compulsory co-payments for all GP visits, blood and screening tests.
The changes to healthcare coverage through Medibank-Medicare enacted by the Whitlam Government were transformative. Vale Gough Whitlam who has left a remarkable legacy for Australians. Join Us Login Submit search.
Toggle Navigation. Benefits Why join. Member Benefits Program. Safer Work Safer Care. The Health Insurance Bill and the accompanying bills were rejected by the Senate on three occasions 12 December , 2 April and 18 July but were subsequently passed at a joint sitting of both Houses 7 August following a double dissolution election.
Bill Hayden on 29 November , the purpose of Medibank was to provide the 'most equitable and efficient means of providing health insurance coverage for all Australians'. The objectives of the original Medibank were summarised by R. Scotton as universal in coverage, equitable in distribution of costs, and administratively simple to manage. The original legislation proposed financing the program through a taxpayer levy of 1.
However the Senate rejected the bills dealing with financing of the program in August and again in December Consequently, the final program was funded entirely from general revenue.
The hospital side of Medibank involved free treatment for public patients in public hospitals, and subsidies to private hospitals to enable them to reduce their fees. Benefits for public hospitals were provided through hospital agreements with state governments, under which the federal government made grants equal to 50 per cent of net operating public hospital costs.
The Medibank program had only a few months of operation before the dismissal of the Whitlam Government on 11 November , and the subsequent election of the Liberal-National Coalition under Fraser in December Following the election, a Medibank Review Committee was established in January The Committee's findings were not made public but the new program was announced in a Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 20 May Other significant changes in included the federal government declaring the hospital agreements with the states invalid, and the subsequent introduction of new hospital agreements under which the federal government provided 50 per cent funding for approved net operating costs.
Also in legislation was passed allowing the Health Insurance Commission HIC to enter the private health insurance business. This led to the establishment of Medibank Private on 1 October In medical benefits were reduced to 75 per cent of the Schedule fee and bulk billing was restricted to holders of Pensioner Health Benefits cards, and those deemed by the doctor to be, in the Minister's words, 'socially disadvantaged'.
The health insurance levy, and the compulsion to insure was abolished in And in access to free hospital and medical care was restricted to pensioners with health care cards, sickness beneficiaries, and those meeting stringent means tests. An income tax rebate of 32 per cent was introduced for those with private health insurance.
The major changes introduced by the Fraser Government were largely rejected by the Hawke Labor Government, which returned to the original Medibank model. Although the financing arrangements were different, and there was a name change from Medibank to Medicare, little else differed from the original. It differed from the original Medibank program only in matters of detail. Dr Blewett in his Second Reading Speech in September , described the legislation as 'a major social reform' that would 'embody a health insurance system that is simple, fair and affordable'.
He also emphasised the 'universality of cover' as being 'desirable from an equity point of view' and 'in terms of efficiency and reduced administrative costs'. Below these income levels no levy was payable. More details are provided in the Second Reading Speech given by Chris Hurford when he introduced the Medicare levy bill in September The Medicare levy is currently set at 1. There have been a number of changes to Medicare and increases to the Medicare levy since The following table summarises these changes.
Private Health Insurance Incentive Scheme commences providing a capped means test rebate for hospital and ancillary health insurance. Uncapped 30 per cent private health insurance rebate introduced, replacing PHIIS to encourage uptake of private health insurance which reaches a low of Lifetime health cover commences in July.
At the time the Federal government argued that this extra levy was necessary to keep the budget in surplus. Instead, he suggested that the Commonwealth Government could use its right to give state governments conditional financial grants as a work-around. It could still compel the states to build a regional network of hospitals staffed by salaried medical professionals. However, Whitlam ended up ignoring the party platform and proposing a tax-funded national insurance scheme instead.
Despite its limitations, Medibank was definitely an improvement on what had existed before. Postwar conservative governments had only provided free health services subject to a means test. Families were allowed to claim the cost of their premiums as a tax deduction. By the mids, around 15 percent of households lacked private insurance, yet were barred from accessing free services by the means test. Many who did have cover still found themselves under-insured. By the mids, average insurance payouts only covered around two-thirds of fees.
Those who could only afford lower premiums — or who presented with more serious illnesses — received even less. Tax deductions also favored those with higher incomes. On top of this, when medical fees rose, insured patients had to cover the additional costs. When the government tried to narrow the gap between fees and refunds by increasing subsidies to insurers, doctors simply raised their fees again. It was a remarkably equitable approach to health insurance. Medibank put Australia far ahead of countries like the United States that still rely on private insurance that is overwhelmingly linked to an ongoing employment contract.
Along with guaranteeing free treatment in public hospitals, Medibank set a standard rate for general practitioner visits while still allowing doctors to run private practices. Alternately, if doctors wanted to charge more than the scheduled fee, their patients had the option of paying the full fee upfront and claiming reimbursement to the value of the scheduled fee.
Over the 20th century, Australian health and welfare improved greatly. These include:. This moment, suggested by Denise Moore, extends the story of health and social welfare into the later part of the 20th century. Universal healthcare is relatively new in Australia. Healthcare in the 19th century was very much a private affair. The quality of healthcare depended on many factors, including: where you lived, what kind of background and education you had, and your level of income.
Doctors were not necessarily the highly trained and regulated professionals that we think of now; that too is a 20th century innovation. Hospitals were generally places of last resort. Just who should bear responsibility for healthcare was a heated debate throughout the 20th century. Politically, people form their views on this issue depending on their beliefs about the role of government. Some people believe that government should have as minimal a role as possible, and that individual rights and freedoms are paramount.
Others believe individual rights and freedoms can only be exercised within the context of an equitable civil society. Any bill that takes 10 hours to debate is indicative of deeply held philosophical differences.
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