Date: 17/01/2012
Source: AAP, The West Australian
Synopsis: New research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, shows that Australians with a chronic illness or disability are facing serious levels of economic hardship. The study attributes this to the high cost of out-of-pocket expenses in Australia, which were found to be the third highest in a survey of eleven high-income countries. The expenses surveyed include treatment and management, such as home modification and transport.
The authors found that a cycle develops where poor health leads to poverty, which in turn leads to poor health. Out of 28,665 Australians who became bankrupt in 2009, 11 per cent cited ill-health or absence of health insurance as the primary reason. The article raises that the Federal government’s proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme is a significant reform that may help address the problem in the long term, however, attention should be directed toward targeted income support and subsidies in the short term.
