IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v42y2009i2p143-154.html

Who's Getting Caught? An Analysis of the Australian Medicare Safety Net

Author

Listed:
  • Kees Van Gool
  • Elizabeth Savage
  • Rosalie Viney
  • Marion Haas
  • Rob Anderson

Abstract

The Medicare Safety Net (MSN) was introduced in March 2004 to provide financial relief for those who incur high out‐of‐pocket costs from medical services. The policy has the potential to improve equity. This study examines: (i) how the health and income profiles of small areas influence MSN expenditure; and (ii) the distribution of expenditure by medical service type. The results indicate that MSN expenditure is positively related to income and that patients who use private obstetricians and assisted reproductive services are the greatest beneficiaries. The MSN has possibly created greater inequities in Australia's health‐care financing arrangements.

Suggested Citation

  • Kees Van Gool & Elizabeth Savage & Rosalie Viney & Marion Haas & Rob Anderson, 2009. "Who's Getting Caught? An Analysis of the Australian Medicare Safety Net," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 42(2), pages 143-154, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:42:y:2009:i:2:p:143-154
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8462.2009.00533.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8462.2009.00533.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8462.2009.00533.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Van Doorslaer, Eddy & Clarke, Philip & Savage, Elizabeth & Hall, Jane, 2008. "Horizontal inequities in Australia's mixed public/private health care system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 97-108, April.
    2. Glenn Jones & Elizabeth Savage & Kees Van Gool, 2008. "The Distribution of Household Health Expenditures in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 84(s1), pages 99-114, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Damien Eldridge & Catagay Koc & Ilke Onur & Malathi Velamuri, 2011. "The Impact of Private Hospital Insurance on Utilization of Hospital Care in Australia: Evidence from the National Health Survey," Working Papers 2011.01, School of Economics, La Trobe University, revised Jan 2011.
    2. Damien Eldridge & Catagay Koc & Ilke Onur & Malathi Velamuri, 2011. "The Impact of Private Hospital Insurance on Utilization of Hospital Care in Australia: Evidence from the National Health Survey," Working Papers 2011.01, School of Economics, La Trobe University, revised Jan 2011.
    3. Sabanovic, Hana & La Brooy, Camille & Méndez, Susan J. & Yong, Jongsay & Scott, Anthony & Elshaug, Adam G. & Prang, Khic-Houy, 2023. "“It's not a one operation fits all”: A qualitative study exploring fee setting and participation in price transparency initiatives amongst medical specialists in the Australian private healthcare sector," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    4. Yong, Jongsay & Elshaug, Adam G & Mendez, Susan J & Prang, Khic-Houy & Scott, Anthony, 2024. "Sources of specialist physician fee variation: Evidence from Australian health insurance claims data," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Benoit, Cecilia & Zadoroznyj, Maria & Hallgrimsdottir, Helga & Treloar, Adrienne & Taylor, Kara, 2010. "Medical dominance and neoliberalisation in maternal care provision: The evidence from Canada and Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 475-481, August.
    6. Yu, Serena & van Gool, Kees & Hall, Jane & Fiebig, Denzil G., 2019. "Physician pricing behavior: Evidence from an Australian experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 20-34.
    7. Naghsh-Nejad, Maryam & van Gool, Kees, 2024. "Impact of time of diagnosis on out-of-pocket costs of cancer treatment, a side effect of health insurance design in Australia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    8. Olukorede Abiona & Phil Haywood & Serena Yu & Jane Hall & Denzil G. Fiebig & Kees van Gool, 2024. "Physician responses to insurance benefit restrictions: The case of ophthalmology," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 911-928, May.
    9. Jane Hall & Kees van Gool & Philip Haywood & Denzil Fiebig, 2024. "Medicare at 40: Are We Showing Our Age?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 57(2), pages 200-205, June.
    10. Van Doorslaer, Eddy & Clarke, Philip & Savage, Elizabeth & Hall, Jane, 2008. "Horizontal inequities in Australia's mixed public/private health care system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 97-108, April.
    11. Pulok, Mohammad Habibullah & van Gool, Kees & Hall, Jane, 2020. "Inequity in physician visits: the case of the unregulated fee market in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pulok, Mohammad Habibullah & van Gool, Kees & Hall, Jane, 2020. "Horizontal inequity in the utilisation of healthcare services in Australia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(11), pages 1263-1271.
    2. Azharuddin Akhtar & Indrani Roy Chowdhury, 2023. "The socioeconomic inequity in healthcare utilization among individuals with cardiovascular diseases in India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 1000-1018, May.
    3. Cumming, Jackie & Stillman, Steven & Poland, Michelle, 2009. "Who Pays What for Primary Health Care? Patterns and Determinants of the Fees Paid by Patients in a Mixed Public-Private Financing Model," Motu Working Papers 292626, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    4. Sözmen, Kaan & Ünal, Belgin, 2016. "Explaining inequalities in Health Care Utilization among Turkish adults: Findings from Health Survey 2008," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 100-110.
    5. Mohammad Hajizadeh & Luke B. Connelly & James R.G. Butler & Aredshir Khosravi, 2012. "Unmet need and met unneed in health care utilisation in Iran," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(6), pages 400-422, May.
    6. Nicole Black & David W. Johnston & Martin Knapp & Michael A. Shields & Gloria H. Y. Wong, 2025. "Horizontal inequity in the use of mental healthcare in Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(2), pages 297-315, February.
    7. Dalziel, Kim M. & Huang, Li & Hiscock, Harriet & Clarke, Philip M., 2018. "Born equal? The distribution of government Medicare spending for children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 50-54.
    8. Mohamad A. Khaled & Paul Makdissi & Rami V. Tabri & Myra Yazbeck, 2018. "A framework for testing the equality between the health concentration curve and the 45‐degree line," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 887-896, May.
    9. Ma, Chao & Gu, Hai & Li, Jiajia, 2012. "我国医疗保健的城乡分割问题研究 [Urban-Rural Disparities in Health Care]," MPRA Paper 47655, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Petcharat Lovichakorntikul, 2011. "Effective Channels for Establishing an Irlen Centre to Help People with Reading Problems in Thailand," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 2(3), pages 99-105.
    11. E. Xie, 2011. "Income-related inequalities of health and health care utilization," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 6(1), pages 131-156, March.
    12. Karinna Saxby & Mike Stephens, 2024. "Medicare and Priority Populations: Structural and Place‐based Considerations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and LGBTIQ+ Australians," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 57(2), pages 149-159, June.
    13. Bernice Hua Ma & Samia Badji & Dennis Petrie & Gang Chen, 2026. "The Impact of Enhancing Social Care on Healthcare Use for People With Disability: Evidence From Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(2), pages 212-228, February.
    14. Mohammad Hajizadeh & Luke Brian Connelly & James Robert Gerard Butler, 2014. "Health Policy and Equity of Health Care Financing in Australia: 1973–2010," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(2), pages 298-322, June.
    15. Layte, Richard & Nolan, Anne, 2013. "Income-Related Inequity in the Use of GP Services: A Comparison of Ireland and Scotland," Papers WP454, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    16. Pulok, Mohammad Habibullah & Hajizadeh, Mohammad, 2022. "Equity in the use of physician services in Canada's universal health system: A longitudinal analysis of older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    17. Alice Sanwald & Engelbert Theurl, 2014. "Out-of-pocket expenditures of private households for dental services - Empirical evidence from Austria," Working Papers 2014-30, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    18. Naghsh-Nejad, Maryam & Van Gool, Kees & Haywood, Phil & Hall, Jane, 2025. "Medicare austerity reforms and patient out-of-pocket costs: The experience from Australian cancer patients," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    19. Richard Layte & Anne Nolan, 2015. "Income-related inequity in the use of GP services by children: a comparison of Ireland and Scotland," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(5), pages 489-506, June.
    20. Karinna Saxby & Yuting Zhang, 2025. "Do Rurality‐Based Financial Incentives Improve Equity of Primary Healthcare Access? Evidence From Australia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(9), pages 1679-1690, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:42:y:2009:i:2:p:143-154. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.