Labor will reform Medicare to save our world-class public health system

It would mean better opportunities to integrate primary, acute, rehabilitation and aged-care services.

The Medicare Alliance approach was one of having both tiers of government having one account. It would be possible to drive this further with monies pooled into a regionally administered pool. Regional models of health care exist in most states and these could be adapted to become fund holding in this manner.

(d) Unifying the Health System – Information

We must get smarter at linking together the information that currently sits scattered across the health system.

A second-generation Medicare Card would be one way to enable the management of a seamless health system for patients.

By using "smart card" technology it would be possible to track the use of health services and allocate costs against federal, state and private funding sources while eliminating duplication and transforming the way health outcomes are measured.

Clearly, privacy concerns need to be addressed and I am not suggesting that full electronic health records be available on the card.

The real opportunity is to use this type of card as a key - a key to a secure system of electronic health records, a key to linking health service providers and a key to tracking the total costs across the health system.

Conclusion

These and other ideas for health reform need to debated and tested. Major reform always requires bold thinking and courage.

Australians want a world-class health system with a universal Medicare at its centre. Judging from their own day-to-day experiences, Australians know our health system badly needs reform.

Only the Australian people can save Medicare by making it their number one priority at the next federal election. At the next election, Australian voters will have a clear choice about the health system they want. A choice between Labor’s real reform and Howard and Abbott’s political fix. Saving Medicare and implementing real health reform will only be done by a Latham Labor government.