Medicare
Medicare rebate for obesity surgery likely to increase
Margaret Rice A DRAMATIC expansion of the Medicare rebate system for bariatric surgery is now one step closer, bringing the popular procedures within reach of all obese Australians, following a recent review by...
Medicare cuts mean 1200 babies not conceived, says IVF professor
Peter Jean, Amy Corderoy THE number of IVF treatments in Australia has fallen for the first time in nearly 30 years, after government cuts to Medicare payments.
Doctors call for Medicare funds to trial cheap cures
Julie Robotham THE national health budget is being derailed by expensive drugs and surgical practices that do not live up to their claimed benefits, say specialist doctors who are calling for new federal research...
Medicare rorts 'cost $3bn'
Kate Hagan Misuse of Medicare is costing Australians up to $3 billion a year because of inadequate safeguards against rorting, the former head of the body charged with overseeing it says.
Medicare abuse rife, says former review chief
Kate Hagan MEDICARE has become dysfunctional, with billions of taxpayer dollars wasted each year due to inadequate safeguards against rorting, the former head of the body charged with overseeing it has argued.
Call to tackle corporate scamming of Medicare
Mark Metherell A SENATE committee has called on the government to review a legal loophole which prevents the investigation of corporate medical chains suspected of rorting Medicare.
Push for asylum seeker Medicare cover
Belinda Tasker The federal government is facing calls to extend Medicare benefits to thousands of community-based asylum seekers.
Dentists' Medicare breaches "quagmire"
Mark Metherell Official demands on 65 dentists to repay $21 million for Medicare breaches have turned into a bureaucratic quagmire, with the federal government revealing it has received contradictory legal advice...
Medicare cuts could come from sensitive area
Mark Metherell THE government is expected to target one of the more delicate areas of medical care - cosmetic genital surgery - in its search for cuts to the cost of Medicare.
Medicare review stirs debate on circumcision
Mark Metherell THE LONG-RUNNING debate on circumcision is set to return as the federal government considers whether the surgical practice should continue to qualify for Medicare payments.
Midwives struggle to access Medicare
Julia Medew MIDWIVES are struggling to use Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme more than 18 months after the federal government gave them access to improve choice in maternity care.
Medicare levy surcharge stand-off
Mark Metherell The Gillard government is holding out against a Greens threat to try and block a Medicare levy surcharge on high earners unless the government meets a $1 billion demand for Denticare funding.
Call to extend Medicare for obese
Under a new proposal, obese Australians would have access to Medicare-subsidised sessions with psychologists to help them to lose weight.
Let detainees have access to Medicare, experts urge
The Federal Government is facing calls to extend Medicare benefits to thousands of community-based asylum-seekers.
Medicare Local status will boost health care in four districts
Mark Metherell FOUR districts where health services struggle to meet care needs have become the first in NSW to get Medicare Local status, aimed at boosting care in areas such as aged care and mental health.
Medicare rorts cost public purse $10 million
Mark Metherell HEALTH CORRESPONDENT RORTING of Medicare rose to a record $10 million worth of incorrect or fraudulent claims last year.
Nurse practitioners and midwives to work under Medicare umbrella
Mark Metherell A LANDMARK change in the health system starts today - Medicare will be extended into what has traditionally been doctors' territory, paying benefits to nurse practitioners and midwives and their...
Unnecessary vitamin D tests cost millions
Amy Corderoy Australians are having millions of potentially unnecessary vitamin D tests that should not be given to healthy people, the country's peak medical testing body says.
$30m for casuals as Department of Human Services cuts 2400 jobs
Noel Towell The federal government's biggest department is spending $30 million hiring casual and short-term labour while shedding more than 2400 of its permanent staff.
Australians to join multi-million dollar diabetes drug class action lawsuit
Amy Corderoy Australian victims of a popular diabetes drug that has been linked to bladder cancer will join a US class action suing the makers of the drug.
