Is she worth $100,000 a year?

[Gob]

HELEN OWENS is a health economist whose long struggle with illness has given her a sharp insight into the health system.



She has had breast cancer for 16 years and yesterday did the unusual - she gave the patient's perspective to health leaders gathered to thrash out the worth of Kevin Rudd's reforms.

''It is costing you, the community, probably $100,000 a year to keep me alive,'' said Ms Owens, a former Productivity Commission member. ''Can this continue?''

Such expenditure on an increasing number of longer-living people looks unsustainable without increased rationing or big reforms and innovations, she said.

Ms Owens, from Melbourne, was grateful for the high-quality care she had received in public and private hospitals. But the cost, she admits, is high. Her cancer drug has cost about $60,000 a year for five years. Chemotherapy is another $2000 a fortnight, PET scans are $3000 a time, not to mention CT scans and radiation.

Luckily she has responded well to treatment. But there would be growing numbers of people who would be kept alive much longer thanks to expensive treatment.

She welcomes the government assuming a dominant position in health funding but hopes the as-yet ill-defined plans for better primary care improve.

''I have had very little co-ordinated care,'' she says, having found herself in crowded hospital wards because of the lack of suitable pain management available outside hospital. ''We need more care at the primary level. I am hoping the Commonwealth budget announces more because it is a total mess.''

The Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, who addressed the meeting organised by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, hinted at the prospect of more measures in the budget but would not say whether they would be aimed at primary care.

Christine Bennett, a former chairwoman of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, said the high cost of many treatments was often not appreciated.

''The first thing we need is a more effective system.''

The introduction of national e-health patient records would generate big efficiencies, reduce waste and improve patient safety, Dr Bennett said.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/keeping- ... -twmm.html

[Long Run]

Maybe in Aus. but not with our dollars. Actually, isn't that the point of insurance -- everyone pays because none of us know who is going to need it?

[Gob]

Maybe in Aus. but not with our dollars. Actually, isn't that the point of insurance -- everyone pays because none of us know who is going to need it?

It's the point of collective insurance, like Aus's medicare, or the UK's NHS, yes.

Private insurance is just a form of gambling.

From what I see of teh US's insurance market, the game is rigged in favour of the dealer too.