Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessmen ....Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessment of the distributional impact of a wide range of possible reforms, including how the outcomes of any policy change will affect disadvantaged sections of our society, whether different generations will be fairly treated, and the impact by gender.Read moreRead less
Blended payment systems for doctors: evaluation of an experiment. The results of the study will provide new evidence for health care policy makers in Australia (and internationally) on the effects of changing the remuneration system for GPs on the costs and quality of health care provided. The study will examine effects in the national priority and national health priority areas of preventive health care and chronic disease. The results will be relevant to other countries, such as the US and U ....Blended payment systems for doctors: evaluation of an experiment. The results of the study will provide new evidence for health care policy makers in Australia (and internationally) on the effects of changing the remuneration system for GPs on the costs and quality of health care provided. The study will examine effects in the national priority and national health priority areas of preventive health care and chronic disease. The results will be relevant to other countries, such as the US and UK, where blended payments schemes exist for GPs but have not been evaluated. Read moreRead less
Modelling Inequalities in Health in Australia in the Area of Obesity. This research will contribute to a body of knowledge that informs government policy and falls under a National Research Priority - Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. Obesity is a serious health problem among adult Australians and the situation is likely to worsen if left unchecked. The first task in addressing this issue is to identify who is at risk. In this project we will use multiple and robust techniques to examine t ....Modelling Inequalities in Health in Australia in the Area of Obesity. This research will contribute to a body of knowledge that informs government policy and falls under a National Research Priority - Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. Obesity is a serious health problem among adult Australians and the situation is likely to worsen if left unchecked. The first task in addressing this issue is to identify who is at risk. In this project we will use multiple and robust techniques to examine this issue. Our research will therefore help in targeting public resources to those that can really benefit, as we hypothesise markets in health do not clear efficiently for a multitude of reasons. Read moreRead less
Development of a Value of Life Framework to Assist Priority Setting Decision Making Across Sectors. The techniques used to evaluate life-saving interventions differ between health and other sectors. In health cost-effectiveness or cost-utility anlaysis is common, avoiding specification of a value for life. In contrast the transport and environment sectors use cost-benefit analysis and value life in monetary terms. This duality of approaches has resulted in a lower implicit value of life in th ....Development of a Value of Life Framework to Assist Priority Setting Decision Making Across Sectors. The techniques used to evaluate life-saving interventions differ between health and other sectors. In health cost-effectiveness or cost-utility anlaysis is common, avoiding specification of a value for life. In contrast the transport and environment sectors use cost-benefit analysis and value life in monetary terms. This duality of approaches has resulted in a lower implicit value of life in the health sector. The research will explore these differences and attempt to identify key attributes that influence how life is valued, to provide a framework for a single approach to the valuation of life, and the more efficient allocation of resources cross-sectorally.Read moreRead less
Health Production Functions: Effects of Socioeconomic and Lifestyle Factors on Health Status. Improving the health and wellbeing of individuals is a priority for the Australian government. Empirical knowledge on the determinants of health is crucial for effective allocation of public health funds. We propose a thorough economic investigation into the interrelationships between self-assessed health, chronic conditions, obesity, private insurance status, and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, us ....Health Production Functions: Effects of Socioeconomic and Lifestyle Factors on Health Status. Improving the health and wellbeing of individuals is a priority for the Australian government. Empirical knowledge on the determinants of health is crucial for effective allocation of public health funds. We propose a thorough economic investigation into the interrelationships between self-assessed health, chronic conditions, obesity, private insurance status, and socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, using advanced microeconometric techniques and comprehensive national and Victorian health surveys. We will link the micro-level findings to economic and policy implications for the Australian health sector and society. The research will be valuable in the design and evaluation of health promotion programs.Read moreRead less
Incentives and performance in the health care system. Changes in financial incentives for health care providers will have direct effects on their behaviour, which in turn influences patients' health outcomes, quality of care, and access to health care for the population. The research will provide a richer understanding of the effects of incentives, and will influence policy on the design of incentives for health care providers in Australia. Changes in incentives will ensure patients receive mo ....Incentives and performance in the health care system. Changes in financial incentives for health care providers will have direct effects on their behaviour, which in turn influences patients' health outcomes, quality of care, and access to health care for the population. The research will provide a richer understanding of the effects of incentives, and will influence policy on the design of incentives for health care providers in Australia. Changes in incentives will ensure patients receive more appropriate, higher quality, and less costly health care, in the most appropriate settings, and delivered by the most appropriate health care providers. This will have direct effects on population health and well-being and the capacity of individuals to lead healthy and productive lives.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
Social and health inequalities related to changes in drinking water in rural Victoria. This project will add significantly to knowledge about the role of water in health. Dental caries (decay) experience over an individual's life time is influenced by dental health in early childhood. Obesity and overweight in early childhood is also a predictor of later life obesity. Both these conditions reduce life chances and wellbeing for Australians and are costly for communities. Understanding why and how ....Social and health inequalities related to changes in drinking water in rural Victoria. This project will add significantly to knowledge about the role of water in health. Dental caries (decay) experience over an individual's life time is influenced by dental health in early childhood. Obesity and overweight in early childhood is also a predictor of later life obesity. Both these conditions reduce life chances and wellbeing for Australians and are costly for communities. Understanding why and how choices about drinks for children are made by parents using a longitudinal design will help to develop interventions and policies that support the use of water in preference to sweetened and acidic beverages. Read moreRead less
Impacts of Population Ageing and Prevalence of Chronic Illnesses on Labour Market Outcomes and Health Service Utilisation. The Australian population is ageing due to the combined effects of increasing life expectancy and decreasing birth rate. The prevalence of major chronic illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and mental health conditions has also increased consistently. With a suite of state-of-the-art econometric and simulation models, we propose the first comprehensive analysis at the ....Impacts of Population Ageing and Prevalence of Chronic Illnesses on Labour Market Outcomes and Health Service Utilisation. The Australian population is ageing due to the combined effects of increasing life expectancy and decreasing birth rate. The prevalence of major chronic illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and mental health conditions has also increased consistently. With a suite of state-of-the-art econometric and simulation models, we propose the first comprehensive analysis at the individual level of the complex relationships between health status, chronic illnesses, labour market decisions, private health insurance status, and health service utilisations of older Australians. The research will enhance the technical rigour and capacity for analysing a range of health and ageing related policies and issues.Read moreRead less