
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hindle, Don 
A1  - McAuley, Ian 
T1  - The effects of increased private health insurance: a review of the evidence
JF  - Australian Health Review
JO  - Aust. Health Review
Y1  - 2004
VL  - 28
IS  - 1
SP  - 119
EP  - 138
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/AH040119 
N2  - Private health insurance membership declined steadily between 1984 and 1997, after which major government interventions caused it to increase. We review some of the literature and conclude that the increases in membership were probably associated with a loss of equity and costeffectiveness for the health care system as a whole. We attempt to explain why the government made the changes and conclude that the main factors were vested interests of those who have benefited and a confusion of objectives. The changes may have resulted in a more balanced use of available resources (such as the balance between government and private hospital utilisation) but these and other desirable objectives might have been better achieved in other ways. We advocate that a more serious effort be made in future to ensure that policy takes more account of evidence, logic, and system-wide design and coherence. 
ER  -

