Hospitals and Healthcare

Medical bills examined by experts reveals how Australian chronic pain sufferers are being apparently billed for fictitious services, inflated costs, and treatments for conditions they don't have.

Medicare rebated psychology sessions are going back down to ten, following their pandemic boost to 20. But we know ten isn’t enough for most mental health disorders.

Billions of dollars are being rorted from Medicare each year, including by billing dead people and falsifying patient records to boost profits.

Máire Kildare tried twice to see a doctor via a video call from her home but the connection kept dropping out. Now people like her could receive less money back from Medicare to see a doctor. 

The most comprehensive review of Medicare in almost 40 years is released. It finds the system can be inefficient, rewards healthcare providers for performing unnecessary services and needs to adapt and evolve to meet the changing needs of Australians.

Operation "Brace Yourself" dismantled one of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in history.

Australians' oral health should be prioritised at the next federal election, say health experts, who are calling for significant reform to Australia's dental scheme.

Poorer children in Australia are less likely to receive their share of Medicare funding, particularly in the first years of life.

By simply giving more cash to selected programs, we deflect attention away from smart, system-wide reforms that would help those who need it most

The truth is that Medicare - the bedrock of Australia’s health system - is sick, and could soon be placed on life support. 

Nursing bodies say increasing the role of nurses – not the Medicare rebate – is the solution to Australia’s bulk-billing crisis

The rate of very high psychological distress is rising most steeply in the middle aged, especially in middle-aged women on low incomes. New funding should match this need.

A leading professor of medicine fears the most extensive review of Medicare ever conducted will end up in the same place as earlier attempts - in the too-hard basket.

Acclaimed brain surgeon Charlie Teo defends his prices, after a colleague criticised the disturbing number of online fundraising campaigns — some worth up to $120,000 — to access his life-saving expertise.

Health care spending among the Medicare population age 65 and older has slowed dramatically since 2005, and as much as half of that reduction can be attributed to reduced spending on cardiovascular disease, a new Harvard study has found.

If you're thinking of travelling overseas to visit a dentist who charges less than the Australian practitioner, it's worth remembering that holidays come and go but the effects of dental treatment stick around for a lot longer, write Madhan Balasubramanian and Alexander Holden.