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THE GROSS PRICES OF PRIVATE FEE‐FOR‐SERVICE PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES UNDER MEDICARE IN SIX AUSTRALIAN REGIONS 1984–2001
Author(s) -
WILLIAMS RUTH F. G.,
DOESSEL D. P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2007.tb00428.x
Subject(s) - subsidy , service (business) , fee for service , business , actuarial science , private insurance , economics , health insurance , public economics , health care , economic growth , marketing , market economy
The subsidies available for medical services under Australia's national compulsory and universal health insurance scheme (Medicare) exist to improve ‘equality of access’. This study empirically analyses the gross prices in one medical industry, private fee‐for‐service (FFS) psychiatry, across six Australian regions. Quarterly time‐series data on the average gross prices are examined to determine statistically the extent to which these prices have been constant through time, and spatially uniform. The gross price outcomes of the market(s) in which uniform subsidies apply provide, in part, an indication of whether uniform spatial ‘access’ to psychiatric services is achieved under Medicare.