Australian Health Care

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It's been a while since we've done an international health care system episode. We thought you might need a break. That break ends now. Australia has the only continental, universal health care system, and it's topic of this week's Healthcare Triage.
For those of you who want to read more, go here: theincidentalec...
John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen -- Graphics
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[@baotruong2794]

I feel very fortunate to live in Australia. When I was young, I was hospitalised for months, had multiple bloods and tests (xray and ultrasounds etc) run every day sometimes multiple tests and bloods taken daily. The doctors and nurses alway made sure my parents and in the loop and felt as comfortable as possible. Once I started getting better, I then needed to go through physio therapy and they even threw in a therapist for me to talk to, to make sure I was coping. My parents fortunately didn't have to pay for any of it, because it was a public hospital. Additionally my mum was able to take time of work and still get paid, under the carers leave then my dad took time off too, same thing. Yes taxes are annoying, but at the same time it's random situations like this that make it worth it. Even if it only happens once in a life time. haha

[@amira2178]

taxes are worth it when u see the benefit from them, i want to come live in australia after i’m done studying, and i’m loving it everyday more

[@markw6586]

I spent a month in I.C.U in Melbourne Australia, from a Really nasty Flue-Asthmatic episode and a month in Rehab. Cost to me- Zero, Best healthcare in the world, for the best country in the world, bar none!

[@antonioiniguez1615]

Mark W America is the best country the world has ever seen and it's not even close

[@SmudgeFish]

@@antonioiniguez1615 yelled out dude from across the street

[@bobprice9541]

For me it just begs the question...Why can't we have this in the USA?

[@antonioiniguez1615]

@@bobprice9541 Because we shouldnt have it

[@antonioiniguez1615]

@Kyle Morrison No im right. There has never been a better country than the USA

[@piglet1ification]

I recently had open heart surgery (triple bypass) and cancer surgery in australia. It cost 92k my bill was Zero

[@MsLouisez]

I think this is a good video, although it doesn't accurately represent the Australian Health Care system IMHO (being a health care professional who works in a large public hospital in Australia). It is possible to see a GP for nothing, and to buy generic drugs on the PBS which significantly lowers their cost. However, the part I find the most interesting is you can attend an emergency department, gets test, scans, x-rays, be seen by specialist Dr's, physio's, dieticians, etc, have multiple drugs administered, be admitted and continue treatment, have ANY operation required, have follow up care, be discharged, receive hospital in the home, or a district nursing service, and not pay 1 cent, not for any of it, not for the tests, the drugs, the operations, the follow up care. That is what makes it so great, not limits on out of pocket spending for the people seeing their GPs. This also comes with the highest standards, and strict targets on waiting times. Outpatient public elective waiting times are always an issue, which is where the private system comes into play. However, if you are actually sick, or break something, you have quick access to free healthcare, which will never make you reach for your wallet. Also the "tax incentives" might save you money on tax, however to have private insurance costs allot more then the Medicare tax levy (when insurance it is not needed in Australia), so in-fact you are loosing money. Not many Australians know this though, and the incentive does decrease the burden on public health expenditure.

[@someone9220]

Do you work at westmead?

[@MsLouisez]

Some One No, in Vic

[@mwbgaming28]

the only issue i have with our system is the fact that idiots can go to the ER because they have a cold or flu or because they stubbed their toe (no joke) without penalty there should be a fine for going to the ER when you know dont need to that would improve waiting times and reduce costs one of my friends knows a 000 operator and supposedly someone tried calling an ambulance because he stubbed his toe while grabbing the mail needless to say the operator laughed and hung up if you have a cold or flu, go to a GP (or go to bed) if you cut your finger, put a band aid on it if you stub your toe, harden up the ER is for serious conditions like broken bones, heart attacks, trauma injuries and other *LIFE THREATENING* conditions (rant over)

[@judespinola3807]

I recently went to the hospital for a "life-saving" surgery to remove my appendix which was about to burst when i was brought into the emergency hospital. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks had some amount of hours of surgery and I'm sure whatever insane drugs they were giving me to help me not feel anything weren't cheap but guess what? I didn't pay a cent and it makes me feel proud to know i live in one of the best countries in the world.

[@mwbgaming28]

australia is proof that universal healthcare is the most civilised type of healthcare a few months ago i was in a car accident as a cyclist and got a compound femoral shaft fracture 5 days in hospital, a lot of drugs and $16000 of surgery later: $0 payable by me 3 months of physitherapy (2 of which were inpatient therapy) $0 payable by me in america i would be in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt most likely its great here in australia

[@stevetarrant3898]

I live in Australia and have limited private health care cover (some limited dental, optical and ambulance cover) Last year I developed a kidney infection causing my kidneys to crash. I ended up with severe gout throughout my body and was in extreme pain. Ended up getting an ambulance to the hospital where I spent a week getting treated. A week after that I noticed my left calf was sore when walking. Diagnosed with DVT(deep vein thrombosis) caused by my inability to move about when the gout was bad. This then led to PE(pulmonary embolism). That's blood clots on the lung and another 4 days in hospital. Overall, including the following 4 months, I have had xrays, MRI's, numerous ultrasounds, cortisone injection in my shoulder and more blood tests than I can count. Total cost was $0. Everything covered on Medicare. My only on-going costs at the moment is medicine which is quite cheap in any case. The only thing my health cover paid for was the ambulance, saved about $750 on that one. I wonder how much all this would have cost in America without insurance. PS, our obesity is definitely not low...

[@aashwinkumar2242]

it would have not been great , i am an indian and confused where should i go to , i love australia but am really doubtful if i will get a PR there.

[@stevetarrant3898]

@@aashwinkumar2242 if you can get permanent residency in Australia you will be leagues ahead of any average person in India. To have access to Medicare in Australia is truly a lifesaver. It has it faults, particularly with covid around but I found it not only saved my life (promptly) but cost me nothing out of pocket (apart from Medicare levy). It works on a triage system, the more you really need it, the more it works, and works quickly.

[@aashwinkumar2242]

@@stevetarrant3898 very truely said brother , I have researched a lot and lot and all I heard that PR/citizenship in Australia is now next to impossible. Can you share your thoughts on this , it’ll be a life changing thing for me .

[@aashwinkumar2242]

As much as I’d want to , I have also looked into immigrating to Canada and Australia , but Australia wins in every sense , just concerned about PR there , bcs if thats not possible it’s all vain

[@annierosha5946]

Thanks for saying such nice things about Australia. Having lived in several countries apart from Oz, I can safely say that this is a great country for medical and pharmaceutical care!

[@meganhartman83]

Again, as an American: WHY DON'T WE HAVE THIS?!?

[@85Aheadstix]

Because 80% of your fellow countrymen are stupid trump voters. oh and anything not 'merican' with socialist added is considered 'commie' correct?

[@thefuck7175]

Because america is money hungry

[@jennakhivkapratt8751]

I thought it's not sustainable in Australia?... so probably won't be sustainable in the US... especially with our immigration issues which Australia naturally does not have. Can you imagine if they put the system into place in the US? This country is so entitled there would be outrage that anybody had to pay 20% or 15% for anything and that they could not get brand name drugs to boot. It sounds like, to get really good care and not wait a long time you still need private insurance so how does this erase socioeconomic inequality in healthcare? It doesn't. It would limit ingenuity which is what drives our care in the US. Our system is broken, No Doubt but putting the government in control of anything, ever, is not a solution. What has our government done well enough that you would trust them with this?

[@olimit3988]

Because someone had the bright ideas of making the health care system like a "business" in America

[@AsloAso]

historymeg83 why the USA doesn’t have it? Well …capitalism

[@vincentnevels5132]

God Bless Australia of your Healthcare System !

[@petehowell220]

I’m always bemused by the anti-universal health care brigade in the US, especially the view that it is ‘socialist’. Well, yes - just because something is socialist doesn’t automatically make it bad. No-one should ever miss out on health care due to cost. We love it here.

[@bobprice9541]

It is unfortunate that we have these people here. Thanks to them, we pay much more for health care than anyone else in the world.

[@u3962521]

That's such an odd view to have even if from Americans. Many have studied business and or economics and it's well known certain goods like roads, defence, and health care would be considered as social goods.

[@maudeboggins9834]

Indeed, having roads, bridges, schools, libraries, traffic lights, police is not socialism but that all comes out of our tax so why not universal health care.

[@fathertedczynski]

​@@u3962521 I think there's a slight difference in the class of goods relating to roads, public lighting, defense, etc. in that these goods are non-excludable. Healthcare, on the other hand, is excludable, meaning people are incentivised to over-use healthcare. This leads to high wait times and poorer quality all around, but of course there are ways to mitigate these problems. Just worth considering properly.

[@ItsRainingHippos]

“Yes that’s complicated. Thanks, Australia.” Basically sums up everything about Australia.

[@1000teresa4ever]

Though for the user, it's fairly straight forward.

[@tpok9433]

Also important to note that private health insurance is usually paid for by the individual, and is very affordable.

[@LordCumberdale]

Was with you right up until "obesity is extremely low". Even by US standards my understanding was that we're not far behind, and rising.

[@OzNix05]

I’m Australian and 35 years old and and didn’t know a lot of this information, mainly because I know I can go to a hospital for a non-elective issue and it will be looked after for free. I can see a GP for free. My prescriptions are under $6. If referred to a specialist, that’s usually free too, including x-rays and blood tests.

[@janesmith3267]

As an Australian I don't find it complicated, you get used to it 😌 like most people under 30 I don't have private health insurance, most people don't find it worthwhile financially unless they have a lot of health needs especially using a lot of allied health professionals. My husband has the absolute cheapest private health cover ($80AUD a month) which covers life saving essentials like surgery, hospital care, ambulance, essential prosthetics. For him, who has had 2 or 3 surgeries every year for the past 4 years, this has saved us many thousands. The most he would pay for surgery and hospital stay is $1500AUD, sometimes it's less ($500 for surgeon, $500 for anesthetist, $500 for hospital). He recently got an essential prosthetic that would have costed $20'000 or more, for free. We often try to imagine how much our combined medical costs would be in America, it's hard to know but I would estimate half a million dollars with the surgeries, numerous specialists, allied health, doctors, medications etc. We would be completely bankrupt so many times over, and he would almost certainly be dead unless his parents had sold there house and lost there entire life savings to support him and his medical costs. As it is we have had to pay approximately $6000 AUD each year, and this is extreme for Australia because of his fairly extreme health situation. But $6k a year is something you can work into a budget for a year and so we have remained debt free, and he remains alive.

[@bobprice9541]

Sounds like the USA can learn a lot from Australia about health care.

[@Mechknight73]

I suspect for anything like a change in the finance, health care, or education systems will require nothing short of a revolution. Why? All the rich people are the ones with the hands up the arses of those puppets in the "theatre show" called federal congress. Whoever had the "brilliant" (note the sarcasm meter just detonated) idea of making health care a "business" should have been taken out the back and shot a long time ago. Thankfully that kind of thinking hasn't been allowed to get any real traction in Australia. The reason why Wall St crashes every two decades is because of the same type of greedy arsehole that makes Gordon Gekko look like a rank amateur. Some American investors whine that Australian markets are too heavily regulated. They have regulations for good reason, and many of those rules are based on ethics. To get finance here, you can't simply just spout some sales pitch. You have to prove you have an ACTUAL means of paying the money back, and/or assets as collateral. Finance brokers are banned from lending money to anyone that can't prove they can pay the money back. Yet the GFC was caused by people essentially making money out of "thin air" and selling debts they knew to be bad. The only way one company in Australia can be "sold" a debt is if a larger company acquires the company with the debtor loan, or if the debtor refinances with someone else

[@connorwilson7696]

the usa can learn form anyone else

[@amiralamb]

The Australian system sounds like the one Andrew Yang is proposing for the US.

[@1000teresa4ever]

The main thing about Australia's public/universal health care system is that it doesn't matter your employment status. Almost* everyone will get the fundamental health care they need. Every citizen and most migrant/visa/refugee are eligible to enroll in Australia Medicare. www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/how-enrol-and-get-started-medicare/enrolling-medicare www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/subjects/how-enrol-and-get-started-medicare/enrolling-medicare

[@bobprice9541]

@Ray Patson We Americans could learns a thing or two from your country.

[@LittleMoths94]

This is a hard time to make a video about Australia's health system because we have a government who seem pretty keen to dismantle various elements of our public health system. This video could be very out of date quite soon. As an Australian, that really worries me.

[@lilaclizard4504]

You need to add a video about Australia's "NDIS" as it updates how people with disabilities are cared for - and still has teething issues, but is a fantastic system!

[@william332]

Australia = Best healthcare in the world! Proud to be Aussie!

[@giuliom3564]

@WhoDarestheMAN gamer The UK has lost positions. Not a single ranking put UK first. For many is between 10th and 20th.

[@rayray3902]

I'm a ex-Army aussie. Veterans get everything free(wounded ones) and everyone else pays 2% of there taxable income for medicare. What you pay out of pocket just clam it back at tax time. The rich pay more to pick up the slack from the poorer.

[@1000teresa4ever]

The only thing that Australian Healthcare is short on is providing free or subsidized dental.

[@divicool72]

It's not true that obesity is low at all! >20% of the adult population is obese, and about 60% or more of the population is overweight. It's a MASSIVE health problem for us!

[@donnateaching5562]

Extremely correct. How come he say obesity is extremely low?my god.

[@Viatoreptil]

Is there a big difference between Australia and New Zealand Healthcare? I was in New Zealand on a working visa for 6 months as a wildlife research volunteer. Before I returned to the USA, I was looking to acquire my rabies shot for the wildlife management position that I had lined up for me in the USA. After doing research it turned out that it was cheaper for me to get my rabies vaccination completed in New Zealand, as a foreigner in with just a working visa, than it was to get my vaccination in the USA, as a medically-insured citizen!!! And if that's not ironic enough - the rabies virus doesn't exist in New Zealand!!! (To clear it up some, my insurance at the time only covered rabies shots if I was leaving the country....but I didn't need a shot to go to New Zealand since well, as I said).

[@ozzygrunt4812]

Some gripes I've got on the Australian health care system, as I am Australian, is the waiting list for surgery in both medical and dental surgery. If the waiting time is brought down I.e a more broader range of Hospitals throughout the country with the proper facilities in place to operate, then that should be considered. My other gripe is Medical assist for homeless, yes every country has homeless people, but we have one of the best health care systems and state of the art hospital of the developed countries, yet a homeless person can't go in to one as they don't have a fixed address and Medicare needs a fixed address for anyone wanting free or subsidised health care.

[@BrotherAlpha]

5:40 THIS! The FDA should make sure new drugs are not only effective and safe, but cost effective before being approved.

[@justinnorwood5477]

Healthcare Triage does a good job covering international health care and how other countries compare. I like this because I had no idea how other systems compare to us, especially Australia! The only problem is that they way they explained it was kind of confusing. The details regarding Australia’s health care were hard to distinguish throughout the video. Their health care may be better and more effective than others, but found it very hard to follow the costs and rules. On the other hand, the U.S. should look into adopting some of these cost-effective ways! One trend that was heard in the video was “free,” which is not something that you hear much in the U.S.

[@RedPencil31]

justin norwood I actually found the United States health care super hard to understand. With this video i think the difficulty is that he is trying to explain everything, in practice it is or feels much easier. that may be because I'm used to it however. They way I use Australian heath care is: medicare for basic things, like scripts or check ups, private for specialists, dental and massage that sort of thing. Medicine is branded or unbranded. My complaint is that contraceptives are not free, in the UK they are. I actually like how medicare makes private insurers more competitive. they have to have robust extras and offerings to compete with medicare in my opinion.

[@alexajessop4803]

We have the very best system in the world. Especially the healthcare system. I for one would not be happy for our worldclass healthcare system to remain untouched by any greedy Politician or anyone else. As an older Australian I see and love all the benefits. Never to be touched.

[@rileypurcell2159]

Thank you Gough Witlam! RIP

[@FlyxPat]

Medicare was Hawke

[@rileypurcell2159]

@@FlyxPat i was 13/14 years old when i wrote this. thanks tho

[@rileypurcell2159]

@@FlyxPat rip hawke

[@FlyxPat]

Riley Purcell - lol you’re still around. Nice reply! Kudos to you!

[@noelinesmith6846]

You were right with the Labor Party introducing Medicare to Australia just different Prime Minister.

[@Flikkey]

Hey Healthcare Triage, Could you please do a followup video about the strife Medicare is in right now in Australia? Tony Abbott wanted to introduce co-payment systems where every GP visit would incur $7 co-payment. Many people are outraged and GPs have made loyalty statements to their bulk billing patients that they will protest and not configure their accounting in this kind of way. Also - I've learnt at uni that state budgets are under enormous strain to facilitate spending on health. Some policy officers predict that by 2020 South Australia will use 100% of their state budget on the Health sector. How is that even sustainable? Just like to repeat my concern similar to comments below. You mentioned that obesity is extremely low in Australia? The way you mentioned this was a little 'off the cuff.' Our media and health professionals remind us several times a year that a gross percentage of Australians are overweight and obese, more so than Americans. A lot of Aussies are under the impression that we have one of the highest obesity epidemics in the world. Where did you get your information source from?

[@anEyePhil]

Healthcare in Australia is complex. There are six States and two territories, and they each fund public health and hospitals, which are theoretically available to anyone for emergency care. The Federal Govt collects a 1% tax on income to fund Medicare, which provides rebates to patients to help pay for consultations. Specialist rebates are only available on referral from a primary care practitioner, ie GP or optometrist. This can be supplemented by Private Health insurance which covers private hospital care and extras like spectacles and allied health. There are also special programs to fund outreach services in rural, remote and Aboriginal-community-controlled health services.

[@clamum]

I like these videos. I think a good statistic to add to the list of other statistics/data when talking about a country's healthcare system is "average wait time" or something like that (e.g. the average time it takes for someone to see a GP for some common thing), for one or a few diseases/illnesses.

[@mikachu317]

Micah's HealthCare Triage Wishlist A.) How much would it cost to animate this show? (in the style of Crash Course) The animation helps me retain information, idk why. Would like to see a Subbable for Healthcare Triage for animation fund. B.) Would like longer episodes. Maybe make two for each subject 1.) A short four-minute basic video to entice new viewers 2.) A longer video going into greater details ala LOTR extended DVDs. (For instance, I would like to know more about Australia's healthcare system) C.) Would like to see a weekly Q&A segment. Thank you so much for making these videos.

[@KnitStitchSew]

Please note that being rurally located does not allow you access to the lower thresholds or make you part of the groups often associated with Bulk Billing and able to receive cheaper medicines. Rural means higher costs to see the doctor, medications and often lower quality services. There is no incentive to live and work rurally in regards to Healthcare.

[@Lowey84]

I don't think that your statement that Australia has low rates of obesity is correct?

[@EmilyTheresa93]

I was talking to a friend from Denmark and he was talking to me about the healthcare system there. Everyone has health care coverage.And the amount they have to pay per year is very low. A few hundred dollars is the maximum they pay. Can you talk about their health care system?

[@trinelarsen424]

I second this - even if I am an avid user of the system at all levels...!

[@djsignifier]

Third - I've been hearing so much about the country being the happiest in the world, would like to see what policies have managed to shape this.

[@snaek29]

In Australia we also don't have 99% of those amazingly weird and relentless pharmaceutical company ads that I kept seeing when I visited the US.

[@jenniferbailey5914]

Just had a full knee replacement and am waiting for my second. Cost zero $. Our system is excellent. I have no complaints!

[@kdoolan33]

My son had 2 surgeries on his hip hospitalised for up to 4 days with 3 meals a day with snacks in between cost us $0. Our local GP/Medical centre picks us up for appointments and drops us off free of charge when we are sick and our medication costs $0 as we are first nations people.

[@kdoolan33]

I feel sorry for americans your health care system is appalling and needs to change!

[@tpok9433]

Free basic healthcare for residents, citizens and those on bridging visa for residency. International students are made to purchase private health insurance before they get their visas approved. They can go to participating doctors and dentists and pay nothing. But if they go to a doctor who isn't on a plan with their health insurance, they will pay ablut $60 for a normal consultation.

[@super1million11]

apparently the U.S used to do something along the lines of this (it was obviously a bit different though) and the cost to healthcare was way cheaper. the system was something like if you dont make a certian amount of money a year you could go to the public hospital for free

[@legend-jp5to]

I live in Australia and I don't pay single money for Medicare. Why do I need to worry about my healthy my Government is smart enough to realize that I need help from them when I'm ill.

[@markjackson6276]

Two updates/corrections for you... The Medicare levy is 2% of adjusted taxable income (it increased a few years back), and, where you have a Lifetime Health Cover Loading because you did not take private cover before your 31st birthday, if you do then take private cover and maintain it for ten years, the loading is removed.

[@thestrangejames]

I'd like to know about countries that are a little more divorced from the Western norm. What's healthcare like in African countries? Libya, Mauritius, and Seychelles score "high" on the human development index, so I'm guessing that they must have some sort of health care system.

[@jedkleppen]

This does a good job highlighting the good points. I don't know about other states, but in Queensland the wait time for surgery is ridiculously long. It is so bad, the QLD government is starting to introduce guaranteed wait times. This means if you wait too long, you can go elsewhere in the country and get the costs mostly covered by the government. This sounds good, except the minimum wait time is set at 90 days, and the maximum at 360 days. If you break your arm and they don't set it right initially, you could have to wait up to a year to get it fixed. Sounds all well and good, but there are definitely major flaws.

[@TheNakedWombat]

I only found this video today. Australia's mixed health system is complex and in places is lacking as politicians favour wealthy electorates over poorer electorates. An example would be new hospitals in wealthier zones while Nepean Hospital in the western suburbs in Sydney is literally falling apart such as a floor caving or better access for children to access mental health services for inner city Sydney residents while outer suburbs struggling to find anything at the same levels, all due to a lack of political interest when there is nobody wealthy enough to pay bribes to corrupt right wing politicians. Conflict often comes between Federal and State Governments. The Federal Government generally distributes funding while State Governments are the Administrators. I have been refused health care at A&E(ER) at a Queensland public hospital did not fund my illness, nor did the private system. Had my medical issue caused me to experience a cardiac arrest, policy at the time was to deny medical staff the ability to intervene because it was a neurological condition, not cardiac. This was during the Queensland Government under Labor led by Anna Bligh. That said, Labor and Greens parties are best for preserving Australia's universal health system while the LNP and other corrupt right wing shonks chip away to make Australia, America. *sigh On a personal note, I have experienced excellent health services in public hospitals as well, depending on the ideology of the Government on the day. One admission for one week consisted of a CT, MRI, pathologies, one minor surgical procedure and further testing as an outpatient. All were covered under Medicare. November 2017 - Three visits to my GP(family doctor), one radiology and two pathologies. All covered by Medicare's bulk billing.

[@Maggieeeat]

Thank you for this video! I have just started working in health insurance industry in Australia and as a new migrant, had some struggles in understanding the healthcare system. This video is very helpful!

[@sethbrowner71]

Hi, Healthcare Triage! For your next international healthcare systems episode, you should look at Healthcare in Israel. It's provided to all citizens universally and has been noted for its efficiency (like another country you examined in the past: Singapore).

[@gamerguy5085]

Wow thanks for the great video, I am Australian and have been waiting for you to review our system. My wife has type 1 diabetes so we are well acquainted with our healthcare system. We are grateful for our subsidised medications, saving us over $250 dollars on a script of insulin. We also appreciate the government regulations which oblige our private health insurance to cover pre-existing conditions after 1 year, therefore covering my wife's insulin pump which our insurance company replaces every 4years. Keep up the good work and thanks again.

[@joshholton1422]

Healthcare Triage does a good job covering international health care and how other countries compare. The only thing that I would suggest is to come up with a different (simpler) way to explain the details of Australia's health care. I got the overall idea that their health care may be better and more effective than others, but found it very hard to follow the costs and rules. Other than that, maybe the U.S. should look into adopting some of these cost-effective ways!

[@brodysilk3861]

in queensland, the government pays for ambulance services. i had to be taken to hospital because i fainted in a store an hit my head, stayed in hospital for about 9 hours and didn’t pay a cent

[@ANonyMouse627]

How does Australia keep its healthcare costs low? Do they negotiate nationally? I'm impressed by the relatively high payment of nurses (they really deserve it) and the low overall percentage of gdp healthcare costs.

[@trainerdisability]

Yes the government sits the drug companies down. They have to produce all of their evidence and results for the drug. The Australian Gov then tells the drug company what they will pay for it.

[@kieranemcgarry]

once you've done a number of these, I think it would be interesting to compare them on a point by point system like cost/effectiveness/private v public etc. with strengths & limitations as well as cost and overall population coverage. The US is so much larger re: population than Canada, France, Australia, and Sweden that I think that's also a factor.

[@davids2218]

Much needed information - kudo's sir. As an American, I have many basic questions that maybe your viewers (who seem knowledgeable) can help with (seriously, I'm here to learn). 1) There seem to be many systems better than the US - we have no shortage of opinions here - what is stopping the U.S from wholesale adopt the German, French, Australian systems? of 535 congressman (& even Bernie Sanders), this has not been proposed - why? They propose everything from free college to UFO protection - why not the "obvious" HC solution - "just do what France or Germany do?" 2) are there any differences in quality/sophistication in care (I see a focus on price - which is important) - but also see many wealthy people (& gov't officials) from 1st world countries in our hospitals... if you are wealthy and have cancer, is there some reason you'd come to M.D. Andersen instead of your local hospital? 3) when comparing the US statistics to others, how much might be cultural vs. a characteristic of our HC system (ie, if you take out fast-food/obesity, guns, and love of fast-driving cars - all embarrassing, but not a HC system problem - our life expectancy would be in the top 10 4) how is the difference in % of GDP explained? Is it just the profit motive and bureaucracy layers? (much, yes)... but could it also be cultural, i.e., maybe the reason other countries have fewer ICU beds is not about care, it cultural - patients with terminal cancer are sent home to their family, not to an expensive ICU bed.. Would love to hear you comments

[@tobiasrim865]

I am a big fan, but I just found a big error in your vid. you said that Australia had a very low rate of Obesity. actually they have acording to the OECD a rate of 28.3% and are the 5th most obese contry. Link to OECD list: www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2014.pdf

[@IPASAustralia]

Thanks for taking time to do these general comparisons. They are very interesting (and make me proud to be an Aussie).

[@naturenfire]

in the states, ive literally been to a hospital once, ever bc we couldn't afford it. Now that i live here, we have more money and i can afford to get medical which is amazing

[@markleon411]

Australians have a pretty poor dental health record because dentistry is not covered under the Medicare system. It's a shortfall people have been pushing the government to fix for many years but they will not budge on it. Many medications are government subsidised through the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) with new medications being added every year. The government decides which meds should take priority and they must pass certain standards of efficacy. It makes expensive drugs like those for cancer treatment affordable. Not a perfect system but most people are not stressed about medical bills and I'm grateful to have this system. My partner is applying for a partner visa and is therefore eligible for Medicare. It really takes the worry and expense out of the equation.

[@Swiheezy]

It'd be neat to hear your opinion on what the most effective transition would be for the U.S. system to become top tier. Obviously you are for an all inclusive system, but what would be the best way to manage and transition to that system?

[@Gruncival]

If anyone's interested, this is Dr. Carroll's appearance on The Colbert Report five years ago: thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/gwtxoo/aaron-carroll He's clearly had many years' experience with international healthcare systems.

[@secxybear6629]

Obesity is low? Where's this from? I'd always heard that we were a rather fat country.

[@rekabneb]

+SecxyBear you are correct top 5 fatties

[@rekabneb]

REX UNKNOWN mexicans are fatter and far more catholic "holy"

[@EssentialPedagogy]

+SecxyBear All obese people are fat but not all fat people are obese. A high % of Australians are overweight but that doesn't mean that they're obese.

[@tharun960]

Sources would be good for the video. Australia has a big obesity problem. 63% of adults (11 million people out of our 20 something million population) are overweight/obese.. 95% of people not getting enough fruit/veg intake each day. Here's a 500 page report on Australia's health.. www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129557188

[@senpaitama8778]

EssentialPedagogy yh tbh I don't see gigantic people too much, but I guess I often see people who may qualify as over weight

[@Waketylerjenkins]

Where was the information sourced? I'd love to take a deeper dive.

[@Gigaheart]

These are great and it's even more great that they are in a playlist, speaking of which can this one and any others that haven't been added to it, get added?

[@smalltime0]

Any chance of getting the reference for that obesity stat? I'm under the impression that about 24~30% of the adult population is obese in Australia. But the only data I can find is from studies using self-reporting of survey participants.

[@GeorgieaMeg]

Yeah, I found that information conflicted with what I was under the immersion of too, a reference would be great.

[@samkearon4341]

yeah it's odd. The link in the description eventually leads here which says that Australia has the second highest levels out of all the countries in the report after the states: www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund%20Report/2013/Nov/1717_Thomson_intl_profiles_hlt_care_sys_2013_v2.pdf Just ctrl+f obesity, it's the first result

[@swimraces]

Concur with this - I was under the impression that obesity was growing in Australia. Auntie reports much higher rates, but definition of "overwight" and "obese" may be blurring the lines a little: www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-29/australian-obesity-rates-climbing-fastest-in-the-world/5485724

[@MrAntieMatter]

lo

[@jefsti]

Yes! What that last info card a quote? And if so, from where? I've heard drastically different to it, and am disappointed that this channel only supports their arguments with research when convenient.

[@AlejandroPradoPatino]

Really informative as always, I would love a video on Mexico's system, it's pretty messy.

[@MsTLind]

I think you should cover Estonian Health Care - we are one of the leaders of implementing IT solutions for health care. For example we don't use paper drug prescriptions any more - all prescriptions are digitally uploaded to central database that all apothecaries have access to and also all doctors have access to. That makes monitoring drug use very easy (for example tranquillizer abuse).

[@lenniegodber7805]

If you go to a hospital in Australia be prepared to wait for up 16hrs to get treatment for non-critical injuries. Doctors visit is free? Nope. That will cost you $80 a time and take up too a week to get an appointment. Want an X-Ray? That will be $120 MRI? Hope you have $500 handy Those who say that Universal Healthcare in Australia is run well or benefits the struggling worker are kidding themselves.

[@firstnamelastname4752]

I haven't paid for a doctor in... Okay I don't actually remember ever paying for a doctor. I think I paid a dermatologist once. But for a GP, I haven't paid.

[@catindogout]

When Tone Abet tried to introduce a $3 payment for seeing a GP everyone freaked the fuck out

[@someone9220]

Agreed mr. Lastname

[@alex.harrison]

Lennie Godber I work in a public hospital as an ED RMO. Any patient who hasn't either been sent home or admitted to the main hospital (if necessary) within 4 hours of presenting to triage (i.e. arriving) is considered a FAILURE. The benchmark target for meeting the 4-hour time limit for public hospitals is 80%. Most hospitals meet this target. The majority of the 20% remaining are in the ED for more than 4 hours because it is expected that they will not require a bed overnight, but they are not safe to return home at 4 hours. Get your facts straight. If you don't want to pay $80 for a GP visit, then see a different GP. There are still plenty who bulk-bill. Or get a Healthcare card from your friendly local Centrelink and most will bulk-bill you. Any investigations ordered by GPs can be reimbured by Medicare, including X-rays. You are right about the MRI though. Shortfall that GPs can't order public MRIs. Future room for improvement.

[@urgbos]

Lennie Godber You're an idiot. Have you been to Australia?

[@atelat6]

Aargh, I've been waiting so long for this! Thanks :) Also, did you just say obesity in Australia is low? I'm fairly certain they like to tell us we are one of the world's worst.

[@richaolsen]

We don’t have a universal healthcare system. There isn’t even equal access for all citizens. If you’re indigenous and live remotely, you are unlikely to be able to access the health care system. This is why outcomes for indigenous people in Australia are so incredibly poor. Bulk billing is becoming increasingly more rare as the government have frozen the amount they’re prepared to pay the doctors. Waiting lists in hospitals can span decades in some states, for elective procedures. We have an excellent emergency care system, but we have a poor palliative care and pre-illness care system. We also have an incredibly poor public dental system and private dentists are often too expensive with the private health policies only paying out small amounts. Ambulances are also often not free, depending on the state you live in. If you have no private health insurance, the ambulance bill alone could bankrupt you.

[@palaven4048]

Australia's obesity is very low? Good one!

[@MartinOlminkhof]

maybe compared to america? otherwise not sure where this came from

[@DreamingIce]

I know right, all we hear in the news is how our obesity rates are climbing all the time...

[@palaven4048]

***** Australia's obesity rate is about 4% behind the US.

[@Dezzles]

I think it's because we spend all our time at the beach and running from dangerous animals :p >.>

[@igneousmoon]

Dezzles must be that

[@alaman321]

Great video! I had no idea how our healthcare worked until this.

[@foolhardycamel]

What's the source for your 'Obesity levels are really low' comment, Aaron? I work in the Aussie healthcare system, and the accepted truth is actually the opposite.

[@emiliastevens3353]

Basically if you have a Healthcare card or Pension card a lot of copay/fee gaps are waived and payed by the government, also prescriptions have gone up since you checked, not that I mind paying $6, but our dental is expensive and rarely covered by medicare. The PBS is what allows us cheap prescriptions, but there are issues at times when a needed drug isn't on the PBS list. All in all though I am glad when I ended up in hospital last year I didn't know have to worry once about how much it was going to cost.

[@noway325]

You must have parents from the UK , Australians who have been here for generations use private health care people from the UK expect to get everything free

[@snezray2324]

One thing I would like to see happen in Australian hospitals is the delivery of value based healthcare which focuses on patient outcomes rather than fee- for -service! It should be fee for value!

[@CompuBob]

Gough Whitlam truly did Australia an enormous service by implementing Medicare. It was a bit sad to see him get dismissed though.

[@hsheuw]

I can certainly vouch that Australian Permanent Residents get the best treatment available there is. My sister, an Indonesian who was granted Aus PR is a living testament to it. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in Melbourne which later metastasised to bone cancer. She was treated with a whole array of treatments there including: chemo / radiotherapy, palliative care, etc. She got all these for literally free to nothing. She did have to pay for take home medication for a modest price which is obviously fair and square for what she got. Had this happened in the US, this could easily have thrown her to serious financial quagmire…. You just gave me all the reasons NOT to live in the US, my friend :). It is certainly a nice place for leisure visit but a definite no no to live for extended period of time. This didn’t even take into account that distance between Indonesia-Australia is a whole lot closer :).

[@renusingh4588]

First of all,thanks for the overview of health system around the world.My country spends just around 1.3% of GDP on Healthcare even though it's poverty contribution is around 16% overall. However, the revamped proposed Healthcare -Ayushman Bharat sounds quiet grand.If possible ,please consider doing a take on Indian healthcare system.It would definitely help many to look at comparison and catalyse the debate within India

[@Hallslys]

Do the Norwegian healthcare system next! If you think this was complicated, you'll have a real challenge figuring stuff out about our system!

[@TheKeithvidz]

trinidad has a two tier public-private system too - difference being awful. Public is free - but ain't much else. Long VERY long wait times, unavailable pharma medicines, sometimes inept doctors, certain services like some dental is nonexistent. Precise list - In simplest conclusions the issues with our government run health system: 1. lack of drugs at pharmacies. 2. over crowded hospitals due to only 7 for 1.3 million. Missing pleasantness makes a stressor. 3. lack of specialized services be it dental, cancer, bone etc, only available at costly private facilities. 4. rudeness by staff. 5. weak, lazy MEDICAL BOARD. 6. non existent local medicine factory. This saves time for medicine to reach patients and saves on FOREX. 7. absolute malpractice and insufficient accountability visited on doctors. 8. ministers run to private and overseas care at public expense. NONE of the parties EVER unc, nar, pnm cared to resolve. Private is superior, out of reach of the poor, who beg on TV for critical care, procedures _absent_ here - unless you're with too much money or a minister running to those privates. A milieu of an oil drowned and third richest regional state. The ministry budget amounts to billions yearly.

[@TimothyFerguson]

I'm not sure the private system gives better services, it just gives choices. So, when my baby was born we went public, because if anything bad had happened and he'd needed Intense neonatal care, the private hospital would have shipped him to the public, which has the new, expensive, low turnover procedure medical equipment. I also had surgery this year and went private so I could nominate my day and my surgeon, and be guaranteed a solo room for recovery.

[@tomschnadelbach]

You were probably talking about the aboriginals when you mentioned that some groups had not as good as others outcomes. If they live on aboriginal lands they have the same problems as native americans living on the reservation. Few doctors want to live in the middle of nowhere so they don't have very good coverage. There are almost certainly other reasons for both aboriginals and native americans but that is a big one.

[@MikeReyesMusic]

I love watching your videos and I have learned a lot from them. However, you use a lot of vague comparison terms in this episode like, "lower than a lot of other countries," or "higher than a lot of other countries,"in terms of ranking Australia's healthcare system. I felt this video was not as clear as to how Australia ranks in terms of "other countries." I would love to see comparison charts in this episode, as you have with others in the past, that shows how Australia ranks in comparison to other countries, especially the countries you have made videos about before.

[@overloadninety9226]

Australia has a great health system and all but is under threat from budget cuts and the resurgence of private healthcare brought about by the coalition. It is important not to be complacent and to keep improving it.

[@BabyBellaMarie]

Is the Australian health care system similar to New Zealand's?

[@chloerose1591]

Yes

[@malcolm3664]

BabyBellaMarie yes but far better

[@MrBrandonDylan]

To the Australians commenting here...you can tell everyone how proud you are to be Australian...you can vote for the LNP who want to attack Medicare...but you can't do both

[@SeanWork]

I think I heard the video say "doctors can charge whatever they want". What prevents them for charging $2,000 for a visit? Really curious about this mechanism.

[@handsomehugh]

Australia is a wealthy country and our personal income tax rates are relatively high compared to other OECD countries. It is a cost that most people are willing to bare as we can all see the benefits.

[@bingchillin3628]

Broke my Foot. Didn’t have to pay a cent and I got free crutches and a free moonboot that I also got to keep after my foot healed. Also free X-ray appointments to see how my foot was going.

[@bartmosby]

Hello, I like the International health care series. I hope you bring this back and cover healthcare in developing countries especially where the healthcare professionals are migrating to other countries. Healthcare professionals exporters i.e. India or the Philippines.

[@swimraces]

I've really enjoyed this series to date, but this edition was a little dry with the detail delivery. Its a shame because Australia has a pretty good health care system and while the series has done a good job highlighting how nations like Singapore and Canada perform compared to the US, a little more plainly, which didn't really come through here until some comparative commentary at the very end. I would have liked more of a double click on the tax incentives, it was almost a throwaway line, but there are tax incentives (reduced Medicare levy surcharge) for having private health insurance that I think merit discussion considering the ongoing discussions in the US about letting the free market "sort it out". The PBS is also worth discussing in detail considering how expensive drugs are in the US, although to be fair Aaron did call that out.

[@Wokanshutaiduo13]

Great video! Main criticism is your conclusion - Australia does NOT have a very low rate of obesity. I think we are only 4% behind the US in terms of obesity. But the rest of the video was quite well done.

[@Nienke955]

it's been over a year since a new video was added to this series,, can we expect any new videos soon (or at all?!) (I'd love to see you cover the Netherlands, but and country would be great, I really like these, so I'm sad there hasn't been any recently)

[@drethinntomasson3097]

+Nienke Fleur Luchtmeijer I'm interested in Spain or Portugal :)

[@TrappedinaTardis]

I didn't think they'd actually do this! Australia!!!

[@paulanthony873]

90% of GP's don't charge a co-payment

[@pxohisa]

Make one about Brazil!! And also, new series about medical schools in different countries would be nice...

[@frasernumber1]

My mum has a Medicare card and we use it for doctor visits and when someone in my family goes to hostpital

[@pahaha70]

Great episode, and I'm a fan of the series. FWIW, I do not care for the new lens or camera and put the background objects out of focus. I understand that it might add a more cinematic effect, but I find it distracting. That is the only "complaint" I have. Keep up the good work.

[@Cameron9182]

As an Australian who knows that our wait times increased ever since we introduced a multi-payer system, I wish we had a single-payer system like Canada, which seems to work much better.

[@AvNotasian]

Cancer has also increased, does this mean the multi-payer system is causing cancer? You have a un-linked premise is my point. I see you are opposed to westconnex, I guess you aren't the brightest individual then. Btw cycling in Sydney is a moronic form of transport, our city is incredibly hilly, only someone ignorant of the layout of their city could possibly believe this is a plausible alternative. Be more critical of the things you accept.

[@emilypff8246]

i think the wait time increase is due to the increase in the amount of sick people we have in the country, not due to the multi-payer system. Our aging population would also be a major factor in the waiting lists increasing as we all know with age comes a decrease in health :)

[@wavavoom]

Hi Cameron, I too am an Australian, I work in Healthcare, in comparison to other health systems we have a pretty good system. If you watch the Canada system they have wait times too, but I what is implied is elective and Non-critical is a driving factor to decreasing costs associated in Healthcare, it allows Urgent and Time-Critical surgeries to be done immediately. e.g. time critical Cardiac Bi-pass surgery would be done immediately, a surgeon would be called out of bed and a surgery theater would be opened, vs. Bunion surgery which would be slotted in between surgeries. Yet the multi-payer system has its flaws, as emilypff identified we have an aging population and a lower taxing cohort (i.e. smaller amount of the population which are working and paying taxes), we have to find innovative ways to make our dollar go further.

[@mwbgaming28]

the biggest problem is the huge number of immigrants we have and the fact that they get top priority last time i went to a GP my appointment was around 30 min late because a bunch of immigrant walk ins came through while i was in the waiting area and got seen before i did (i heard them talking to the receptionist which is how i know they didnt have an appointment) whats the go with that??? they should wait their turn and if its so severe that they think they deserve to jump the queue then they should go to a hospital instead its better than the yanks "no money = death" system but it is incredibly annoying that because im white i have to go behind all the immigrants even if i have an appointment sheduled

[@petesmith7292]

Umm, If thet had a child or pregnant that would explain it. Or sometimes, if there is a mental health issue as these tend to be urgent. Been there and gone through what you describe.

[@dashama]

Great video, thank you for your positive energy. Blessings and Love, Dashama

[@Anth1963]

I do have a question; So why in some states are firearms relatively cheap while in the same states healthcare is so expensive?

[@chynagrl88]

Please do a vid on a developing country, or a country that has changed a lot recently! Like India, China, Mexico, etc. Thank you SOOO much for these vids!

[@melkior13]

ok, I just noticed the pictures on the wall are not level... now I can't UNsee it...