Catholic Health says reforms may exclude the poor

The risk of excluding the needs of financially disadvantaged Australians in the reform of the Australian health system must be avoided says Catholic Health Australia’s chief executive officer, Martin Laverty.  

Speaking at the launch of a roadmap for improved access to health care by people living in poverty by Senator Ursula Stephens, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion, Mr Laverty outlined how health reform could improve health access for the most disadvantaged Australians.  

“When access to health care is discussed in Australia, the focus is very often on surgery waiting times or the cost of prostheses. These are important issues, but so too is access to care by the homeless, non-English speakers, or those unable to fully participate in society because of social exclusion,” Mr Laverty said. 

“In approaching reform of health care, government should ensure services meeting needs of the disadvantaged are supported and able to thrive,” he said.

In launching the new Catholic Health Australia publication, ‘A Preferential Option for the Poor’  Application to Catholic Health and Aged care Ministries in Australia by Father Gerald Arbuckle Phd, Mr Laverty said Catholic Health Australia was preparing a framework for improved access to health for the socially disadvantaged.

“At a time when government hospital and health services are under strain and for profit services are becoming increasingly commercialised, the role of non-government not-for-profit service providers could not be more important,” he said.