Medical care for the aged = medical don't care in the USA.

Sometimes Miss Eagle thinks that if there was a referendum in Australia on whether Australia should become the 51st state of the United States of America, it would succeed. But if you are an Australian who thinks the USA would be a great place to live with freedom and justice for all, then take a read of this.

Just so there is no mistake in understanding what you are reading:

• The USA does not have universal medical insurance. Australia does.
• If you need emergency medical treatment in the USA, you will have to be covered by medical insurance or pay out of your own pocket for medical treatment.
• Many Americans are covered by medical insurance schemes run by their employers. Not all Americans work for employers who provide medical insurance. These people usually cannot afford the premiums for medical insurance and so they go without.
• The decision referred to in the link above means that employers will not have to provide coverage to people aged over 65 years of age - even if they have been paying medical insurance for years and years.
• Australia has the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The USA does not. Many elderly citizens try to smuggle in pharmaceuticals from Canada and other countries where they are cheaper.
• In the USA, employer run medical schemes have introduced a system where they will dictate from where the people they cover can obtain their pharmaceuticals. No walking into your local chemists or getting on friendly terms with the pharmacist and leaving your repeats there.

John Howard and his Liberal/National Coalition were never able to abolish Medicare, the universal medical insurance scheme for all Australians. John Howard did all sorts of things to all sorts and classes of people in his eleven years in government. Doctors, in the main, vote for the Liberal Party and hate Medicare. Yet Howard did not change the system. Why? Because he and his government knew that Australians support Medicare and would not tolerate its abolition.

To Miss Eagle, this means that Australians can prevent governments from going against their wishes - if they have a mind too. Howard and his Liberal doctors wouldn't and couldn't change Medicare. At least on that score, Australians held their government accountable.

May Australians recognise just what they can do and continue to hold governments of all persuasions accountable and steer clear of slavishly following the USA.

Please Note: The population of the USA is over 300 million people. The above map estimates that 16% of Americans do not have medical insurance. This means that over 48 million people in that nation have no medical insurance. Following the decision in the report linked above, that is about to grow phenomenally as millions more of elderly people are deprived of coverage.

Workplace Relations and Aged Care

My friend Gina over at Patra's Place and Patra's Other Place has had trials and tribulations in recent times in relation to her employment. Gina is feisty - and a fighter. Now she has set up a new blog to document what has been happening. It is called Workplace Relations - what a farce!

Miss Eagle commends Gina for this well set up blog. Gina brings a personal take on some of the major issues at the forefront of the contemporary Australian workplace and highlights the often hidden practice of service delivery in aged care.

Miss E believes that Aged Care is, as a political issue, a major sleeper. The number of aged people is increasing - and so are their friends and relatives and the number of people employed in the Home and Community Care (HACC) program.

Gina is right! Let's get stirring. Please let her know your experience in the workplace - any workplace. If you work in a HACC program, please make getting in touch a priority. Major issues within Aged Care include:

1. Lack of a grass-roots consumer complaint system for those receiving Commonwealth packages or HACC services.
2. Lack of organisation among employees of private service providers - particularly those who are outsourced by local government.
3. Gender domination by women in delivering services to the aged. The dominance of women in service sector occupations can be equated with lack of employee organisation and inequities in pay scales.
4. Lack of a voice at the policy table for those who work at the coal-face of delivery of services to the aged in the home.
5. Governments are making major changes to policies affecting the delivery of services to the aged in the home with major input from doctors and nurses but not for personal care workers.
6. The role of guest workers in aged care services now and in the future.