The Making of Medicare

This chapter considers the impact of Medicare on clinical freedom and locates this within a line of argument in political philosophy concerning the administration of freedom by the state. The Australian Health Care Agreements are a series of eight agreements between the Commonwealth government and each state and territory government. The period to 1988 from the introduction of Medicare in February 1984 was covered by a number of slightly disparate agreements reflecting the transition from the various pre-Medicare funding arrangements in force in different states. Medicare benefits reimburse patients for the medical services they receive. It remains up to the patient to pay the doctor for their services. Responsibility for administering the benefits scheme was transferred from the Commonwealth Health Department to the Health Insurance Commission (HIC), which at that time operated Medibank Private, the governments own private health insurance company, established in 1976.