Health insurance design: choices, consumer behavior and policy challenges . Rising health costs is a global challenge. Creating an efficient health insurance system is a key policy concern in all developed countries. This project aims to study choices, consumer behaviors, and policy challenges in two health insurance markets: Australian private health insurance (PHI) and US Medicare prescription drug insurance.
Expected outcomes include new evidence needed to develop a new framework for PHI, ne ....Health insurance design: choices, consumer behavior and policy challenges . Rising health costs is a global challenge. Creating an efficient health insurance system is a key policy concern in all developed countries. This project aims to study choices, consumer behaviors, and policy challenges in two health insurance markets: Australian private health insurance (PHI) and US Medicare prescription drug insurance.
Expected outcomes include new evidence needed to develop a new framework for PHI, new knowledge on how consumers respond to complex pricing structures, and new policy proposals to improve the overall efficiency of the health system. The research will benefit the re-design of PHI and the health system to improve Australians’ health while saving health costs.
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Food and beverage price promotions: An untapped policy target . We aim to generate evidence on the influence of price promotions on foods and beverages considered to be of concern for human and planetary health. We further aim to identify if, and how, policies can be designed to reduce these types of price promotions and understand the feasibility and acceptability of doing so, from a range of perspectives.The significance of this project is substantial - unhealthy diets are the leading cause of ....Food and beverage price promotions: An untapped policy target . We aim to generate evidence on the influence of price promotions on foods and beverages considered to be of concern for human and planetary health. We further aim to identify if, and how, policies can be designed to reduce these types of price promotions and understand the feasibility and acceptability of doing so, from a range of perspectives.The significance of this project is substantial - unhealthy diets are the leading cause of disease and death and unhealthy foods account for >30% of the food-related environmental footprint. By understanding if, and how, this novel policy target can be designed to improve population food choices, this project will ultimately deliver benefits for human and planetary through improved dietary choices.Read moreRead less
Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss ....Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss. The proposed model, an international first, will be a powerful tool to comprehensively model the cost impacts of illness and simulate policy options related to health and productivity. This will provide answers to critical policy questions for government with potential significant economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Mis-reporting, adaptation and anchoring: the implications for self assessed health. In terms of targeting scarce public health resources, information concerning the true health status of different social groups is important. This project will provide more accurate information on the health of the Australian population using data already collected on a routine basis. Resources can then be targeted to reduce health inequalities.
Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or adminis ....Understanding recent Australian trends in alcohol consumption and harms. This project aims to provide critical insight into recent trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in Australia. Many indicators of harm from alcohol have increased dramatically in the past decade, while drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. This project aims to investigate two potential explanations for these trends: that apparent increases in rates of alcohol-related harm are driven by operational or administrative practices rather than by increases in actual harm; and that stable per-capita consumption data obscures divergent drinking behaviours, with increases among heavy drinkers driving increasing harm rates. The project aims to inform alcohol policy debates, which rely on robust trend data.Read moreRead less
Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this stud ....Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this study will explore their impact upon the hospital system. Evidence-based strategies are needed to improve the accountability of service providers and regulators. Social and economic benefits flow from empowering patients and from improving hospital performance.Read moreRead less
The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling t ....The Distributional Impact of Health Outlays: Developing the Research and Modelling Infrastructure for Policy Makers. The Commonwealth recently concluded that the projected increase in health outlays over the next few decades is unaffordable. Policy makers are therefore going to face difficult decisions about health funding, the balance between government and consumer contributions to health costs, and about taxes (which fund public health outlays). They do not currently have adequate modelling tools to help them make sound decisions. This project aims to redress this situation, by constructing a microsimulation model of the health sector, with a capacity to assess the likely distributional impact of possible policy changes and their revenue or expenditure implications.Read moreRead less
Rural General Practitioners in Australia: Costs, Returns and Relative Work Value of Rural Compared with Urban Private General Practitioners. Aims:
* To conduct a rurally focused study of GPs in Australia, to address rural GPs' concerns about remuneration, and consumers' concerns about access to rural GPs.
* To examine costs, prices, returns and work value differentials between rural and urban GPs.
Significance:
* The first systematic economic evaluation of rural GP remuneration and work valu ....Rural General Practitioners in Australia: Costs, Returns and Relative Work Value of Rural Compared with Urban Private General Practitioners. Aims:
* To conduct a rurally focused study of GPs in Australia, to address rural GPs' concerns about remuneration, and consumers' concerns about access to rural GPs.
* To examine costs, prices, returns and work value differentials between rural and urban GPs.
Significance:
* The first systematic economic evaluation of rural GP remuneration and work value in Australia.
* Reflection of the profession's geographical heterogeneity in policy recommendations.
Expected outcomes:
* Improved measurements of effects of geographcial location on costs, remuneration and relative work value of rural GPs.
* Improved understanding of effects of differential rates of GP bulk-billing.Read moreRead less
Understanding and reducing alcohol-related harm among young adults in urban settings: Opportunities for intervention. Alcohol use is a major contributing factor to injury and death, with 2634 young Australians dying from alcohol-related causes in the decade to 2004. Local governments (LGs) urgently require research evidence on which to base policy to reduce alcohol-related harms. The project will provide an analysis of patterns of alcohol consumption by young adults in inner and peri-urban (grow ....Understanding and reducing alcohol-related harm among young adults in urban settings: Opportunities for intervention. Alcohol use is a major contributing factor to injury and death, with 2634 young Australians dying from alcohol-related causes in the decade to 2004. Local governments (LGs) urgently require research evidence on which to base policy to reduce alcohol-related harms. The project will provide an analysis of patterns of alcohol consumption by young adults in inner and peri-urban (growth corridor) LG areas, along with information about how young adults view alcohol use. In collaboration with industry partners VicHealth, the Victorian Department of Human Services, the Municipal Association of Victoria and LGs in Hume and Yarra, specific policy recommendations for implementation at LG, state and national levels will be developed and disseminated. Read moreRead less
Careers of misconduct. This project aims to understand how legal and health practitioners named in multiple misconduct allegations make changes to their practice. Regulation exists to prevent poorly performing practitioners from doing further harm, yet little is known about the extent to which this is happening. Expected outcomes of the project include a better understanding of how regulation can be used effectively as a tool to promote the interests of consumers of legal and health services. Be ....Careers of misconduct. This project aims to understand how legal and health practitioners named in multiple misconduct allegations make changes to their practice. Regulation exists to prevent poorly performing practitioners from doing further harm, yet little is known about the extent to which this is happening. Expected outcomes of the project include a better understanding of how regulation can be used effectively as a tool to promote the interests of consumers of legal and health services. Benefits will include recommendations to legal and health practitioner regulators about how regulatory interventions can be improved to better protect the public.Read moreRead less