I noticed the following post a day or so ago from the beautiful north coast of NSW.
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon is not telling the truth about the Medicare e-card
Remember over the course of 2009 the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon assuring everyone within hearing that the new Medicare smart card would contain data and, give access to a database, which could be checked for accuracy by individual patients and that information would only be given out if the individual patient agreed to participate in the e-health scheme?
This is what the Minister was putting about at the time:
Eventually, the plan is for each person to have an individual e-health record, which holds their personal details; a summary health profile that can be shared with the person's permission between treating doctors; event summaries such as hospital discharge reports, care plans and test results, and a self-care management record where people can add their own material. and Ms Roxon has said participation in e-health records schemes would be voluntary and yet again All Australian residents will be allocated an Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) to support better communication between healthcare providers involved in patient treatment – but no patient will be forced to use it to access any health service.
Believed her did you?
Well, she told whoppers - barefaced and knowingly.
The proof is in the draft Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 which contains no precise provisions along those lines.
Much more here:
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2010/01/australian-health-minister-nicola-roxon.html
I have to say I am much attracted by the quotation provided in the side bar of the blog.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. [Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]”
I had not realised blogging has such high level support and encouragement!
The rest of the blog is worth a browse to see what you think, but as I read it I think I am reading a blogger who is pretty unhappy about how the Rudd Government in general and Ms Roxon in particular are going about the e-Health task.
It is worth a mention that today’s articles describing Mr Rudd’s concerns about how the overall health sector is to be sustained and funded seem to even give e-Health the briefest comment.
See here:
Kevin Rudd in alert on health spend
- Samantha Maiden, Online political editor
- From: The Australian
- January 25, 2010
KEVIN Rudd has declared 2010 a year of "major health reform", warning that health spending alone will outstrip state tax revenues within two decades.
In the latest in a series of speeches in the lead-up to Australia Day, the Prime Minister yesterday warned that Australia faced the choice of cutting pensions, health services and aged care; running massive deficits; or, his preferred option, boosting productivity as the population aged to help lift tax revenues.
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And here:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/states-face-health-cost-avalanche-20100124-msl7.html
States face health cost avalanche
MICHELLE GRATTAN AND LORNA EDWARDS
January 25, 2010
FEDERAL Government spending per person on health will rise in real terms from $2290 today to $7210 in 2050, with state governments at risk of being overwhelmed by rising costs, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said.
Treasury projects that, on present trends, the total health spending of all states will exceed all of their tax revenues, excluding the GST, by 2045-46, and possibly earlier in some states.
This year the Australian Government is spending the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP on health, but the third Intergenerational Report, prepared by Treasury with projections to 2050, forecasts this will increase to 7.1 per cent in 2050.
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This is all a bit of a worry as e-Health is certainly seen around the world as one of the enablers of health system sustainability long term. Not with Rudd and Roxon it seems.
David.
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