Cost a barrier to using health services - report

A new report from the National Health Performance Authority has revealed the extent to which cost barriers are deterring people from accessing health services.

 

The report Healthy Communities: Australians’ experiences with access to health care in 2011-12, found there were 14 local areas around Australia where 25% or more of residents had delayed or avoided seeing a dentist in the past year due to cost; along with a further 32 areas where at least one in 10 residents had put off either seeing a doctor or filling a prescription, or both.

There were 20 Medicare Local catchments where 10% or more of residents delayed or avoided filling a prescription due to cost, followed by 17 areas where 10% or more of residents put off seeing a medical specialist due to cost, and 11 areas where 10% or more delayed or avoided seeing a GP.

The ADA has consistently argued that the primary issue with access to dental care is a lack of adequate Government funding for public dentistry, and the measures which have been introduced to date have not yet begun to meet the demand for basic care for disadvantaged Australians.