Medicare is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded single-payer healthcare system of Canada. Canada's health care system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans, which provide universal healthcare coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and depending on the province or territory, certain temporary residents. The systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.
Medicare is the publicly funded universal health care insurance scheme in Australia, along with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) operated by the nation's social security department, Services Australia. Medicare is the principal way Australian citizens and permanent residents access most health care services in Australia. The scheme either partially or fully covers the cost of most primary health care services in the public and private health care system. All Australian citizens and permanent residents have access to fully-covered health care in public hospitals, funded by Medicare, as well as state and federal contributions. International visitors from 11 countries have subsidised access to medically necessary treatment under reciprocal agreements.
Health insurance or medical insurance is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to provide the money to pay for the health care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is a program of the Australian Government that subsidises prescription medication for Australian citizens and permanent residents, as well as international visitors covered by a reciprocal health care agreement. The PBS is separate to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, a list of health care services that can be claimed under Medicare, Australia's universal health care insurance scheme.
A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this type of hospital provides medical care free of charge to patients, covering expenses and wages by government reimbursement.
The Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC), formerly the Department of Health, is a department of the Australian Government responsible for health research, funding, promotion and regulation in Australia. Primary health care and aged care services are overseen by DoHAC, while tertiary health services are administered by state and territory governments. The department is responsible for programs such as Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and agencies such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Health care in Australia operates under a shared public-private model underpinned by the Medicare system, the national single-payer funding model. State and territory governments operate public health facilities where eligible patients receive care free of charge. Primary health services, such as GP clinics, are privately owned in most situations, but attract Medicare rebates. Australian citizens, permanent residents, and some visitors and visa holders are eligible for health services under the Medicare system. Individuals are encouraged through tax surcharges to purchase health insurance to cover services offered in the private sector, and further fund health care.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. Headquartered in Edmonton, AHS delivers medical care on behalf of the Government of Alberta's Ministry of Health. It operates 850 facilities throughout the province, including hospitals, clinics, continuing care facilities, mental health facilities and community health sites, that provide a variety of programs and services. AHS is the largest employer in the province of Alberta. In 2019, AHS served 4.3 million Albertans with a staff of 125,000 staff and 10,000 physicians, and an annual budget of $15.365 billion. Sean Chilton is the Acting President and CEO of AHS and reports to Dr. John Cowell, the AHS Official Administrator. The Official Administrator is accountable to the Minister of Health and the Premier.
The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was succeeded by another Labor administration, the Keating government, led by Paul Keating after an internal party leadership challenge in 1991. Keating was Treasurer through much of Hawke's term as Prime Minister and the period is sometimes termed the Hawke-Keating government.
Grattan Institute is an Australian public policy think tank, established in 2008. The Melbourne-based institute is non-aligned, defining itself as contributing "to public policy in Australia as a liberal democracy in a globalised economy." It is partly funded by a $34 million endowment, with major contributions from the Federal Government, the Government of Victoria, the University of Melbourne and BHP.
Sandra Eades is a Noongar physician, researcher and professor, and the first Aboriginal medical practitioner to be awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in 2003. As of March 2020 she is Dean of Medicine at Curtin University.
Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre is a district general hospital is located in Red Deer, Alberta. Alberta Health Services is responsible for the operations of the hospital.
The Department of Human Services and Health was an Australian government department that had existed between December 1993 and March 1996.
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is the representative body for the public hospital sector in Australia. It is one of 23 bodies funded from the government's Health Peaks and Advisory Bodies Program.
Fran Baum is an Australian social scientist who conducts research on the social and economic influences and determinants of health. She is director of the Southgate Institute of Health, Society and Equity at Flinders University, Australia, and became an Officer of the Order of Australia for her advocacy work on "improved access to community health care, and to professional organisations". In 2006, Baum was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Sarah Elizabeth Medland is Professor and Psychiatric Genetics Group Leader at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Herston, Brisbane, Australia. She played a major role in the development of the ENIGMA brain imaging consortium.
Louise Maple-Brown is an Australian endocrinologist. She is a clinical researcher at the Royal Darwin Hospital, serving as the hospital's Head of Endocrinology and as NHMRC Practitioner Fellow with the Menzies School of Health Research at Charles Darwin University. She leads a clinical research program within the Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Diseases division of Menzies with a focus on diabetes in Indigenous Australians and provides clinical diabetes services to urban and remote Northern Territory communities.
Alberta's Ministry of Health is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta whose major responsibilities include setting "policy and direction to achieve a sustainable and accountable health system to promote and protect the health of Albertans."
Ian Phillip Anderson, is an Australian academic and senior public servant.
Gwendolyn Lesley Gilbert, better known as Lyn Gilbert, is an Australian microbiologist who specialises in the control and prevention of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
