On Sep 13, 2009, at 10:21 AM, Doug Pensinger wrote:
Hi Ray, glad to see you're still hanging out. Are you ready for
spring, or does it make that much of a difference?
The change of seasons is not as obvious here as it seemed to be in the
States as we toured around last year. We don't go from ridiculous
negative temperatures to extreme heat as for example in Colorado. It's
gradually getting warmer now (the low 20s C) and it looks like we
might be expecting another horror bushfire season. Melbourne's dams
are still below 30% full after 12 years of drought.
So how do you like your health care?
Um, I'd like my health care to be unnecessary!
If you mean "do I like Australia's system?", then overall, I'd say
yes. There is universal health coverage under the government mandated
Medicare system, and as well as that, many people also to take out
private health cover (which is subsidised by a 30% gov contribution).
I won't go into detail here, but I encourage those on both sides of
the "debate" to perhaps check out:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/healthsystem-overview-1-Introduction
or http://tinyurl.com/qppnmu
Being a government site, it perhaps paints too rosy a picture, but it
does give the outline of the system.
From discussions with many people during our US trip last year, it
was amazing to us what a worry it was to US citizens about how to pay
for their health care. Some of the premiums discussed were to our
ears, unbelievable. Relying so much on employer-sponsored health
benefits seems to me a strange system. The employed surely are far
more able to pay for their own health coverage than the unemployed.
Here in Australia, at least everyone is entitled to basic care,
usually with little copayment required. It obviously does help if you
can afford to take out private health insurance was well, as it
increases the range of choices you have for treatment.
Regards,
Ray.
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