I've been following the discussions on DailyKos and through the American media about health care and insurance and figured the Australian model is probably something Americans would like to know about.
To begin with, it is necessary to add an important disclaimer - I am not a health professional, insurance industry worker or lobbyist, care giver nor in any way involved with the policy or implementation of Australia's public safety net health system. I am simply someone who, like everyone Australian, automatically qualifies for access to our system of health care and wanted to share my interpretation of how our system works and how it has affected my family directly. Any errors I make in my interpretation of how our Medicare system works, I hope a few Aussies and other people will help me correct.
The Australian health system model, a hybrid system of public and private interests, includes a government owned private insurance fund so may provide some ideas for what has been working (with evolutionary changes) since 1975. Over the fold I will try to explain what we have based on Wikipedia's entry and mine and my families interaction with this health care system.
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