Making Medicare

The Politics of Universal Health Care in Australia

Anne-marie Boxall, James Gillespie

• Publisher: University of New South Wales Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781742246574
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Care Delivery

Since the 1980s, Australians have had a system of universal health care that is often taken for granted. But the road there wasn't easy. Making Medicare is a comprehensive account of Australia's long, tortuous, and unconventional path toward universal health care—as it was established, abolished, and introduced again—and of the reforms that brought it into being. With its detailed investigation of the policy debates that have determined the shape of health care in Australia, this book is the most thorough survey of Medicare's history published to date. But it is not just about the past. The authors offer a timely overview of further reforms needed to address the challenges facing our health care system: new technologies, the aging population, and the rising tide of chronic disease.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• About the Authors
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Making Medicare: A Timeline
• Introduction: Health Care and History
• 1. Health Reform Efforts To The 1950s
• 2. Whitlam and Health System Reform, 1960–74
• 3. Making Medibank A Reality, 1974–75
• 4. Organised Medicine versus Medibank
• 5. Fraser’s Health System Reforms, 1976–81
• 6. Medibank Weighed In The Balance, 1976–78
• 7. Why Fraser Abolished Medibank
• 8. Hawke Brings Medicare Into Being
• 9. The Politics of Medicare, 1984–96
• 10. John Howard, Medicare’s Greatest Friend?
• 11. Current Issues, Future Challenges
• Notes
• References
• Acknowledgments
• Index