Health Policy in the Market State

Description

At a time of increasing demands on budgets, governments around the world are seeking to reduce health expenditure and introduce market-orientated reforms to the health sector. This is leading to profound shifts in the relationship between the state and the individual, as policy-makers dismantle the welfare state and move towards a user-pays system. This text offers an overview of health policy in Australia, locating it within the broader context of power and interests analysis and shifts in government policy and public sector restructuring. It outlines the key issues in current health policy and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of specific policies and programmes.

Linda Hancock teaches in the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne.