This kind of 'hospital rejection' of patients only happens in 'some parts' of Third World countries and Least Developing Countries (LDCs), such as, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Angola, and possibly also some parts in India.
But to think that it happens in AUSTRALIA, the so called 'developed country', and is label by United Nations, as among the TOP destination and place to live in! Well, think again!!
In Malaysia (which is a developing country, not a developed country yet), patients are NEVER rejected, some government hospitals in Malaysia may give mediocre services, but that is as far as it goes, but most government hospitals give good services, to locals and migrants.
And to make matter better, ALL civil servants in Malaysia have access to FREE health care services to government hospitals, yet some opt to go to the private hospitals (due to individuals perception of better services in the private hospitals). But government hospitals in Malaysia NEVER reject patients, locals or migrants!
So WHO needs to LEARN from who? I think Australia and US need to learn from the experiences of Malaysia!!!
Also what's the point of buying 'health insurance' card/policy, and making the CEO wealthy, when at the end of the day, your 'health insurance card/policy' is deem WORTHLESS !!
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Source:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/overseas-sector-cries-foul-over-hospital-admission-policies/story-e6frgcjx-1226209576566
Overseas Sector Cries Foul Over Hospital Admission Policies
BY: JOHN ROSS From: The Australian November 30, 2011 12:00AM
THE wife of an international PhD student gave birth in her car after at least five Melbourne public hospitals refused to admit her for obstetrics services. The incident on Friday night resulted from what overseas students say are discriminatory policies that systematically deny them health services available to Australian citizens.
Rosmizi Rahman, 31, said he delivered his son Aasif in the carpark of the emergency department at Sandringham Hospital after a 22km dash across southeast Melbourne. The Monash University student said he ran red lights with his wife Sharifah Rahim in labour, bypassing three public hospitals that had previously denied services to the couple. He made it to Sandringham, which had agreed to admit Ms Rahim as a discounted private patient, but she gave birth before staff arrived. She and her son are recovering at home.
The incident follows revelations that Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital has banned obstetrics and gynaecology care for international students, including those with medical insurance.
Mr Rahman said he and his wife had initially gone to Dandenong, 5km from his Noble Park home, but were denied care because they did not have Medicare cards. "I said we have (compulsory health) cover, but the staff said we don't take this one."
Mr Rahman said when he followed up with a phone call to Southern Health, which runs Dandenong and Monash hospitals, he was told Ms Rahim would be accepted as a private patient for more than $7000.
He said it was hard to understand why they'd been given different reasons for being turned down as public patients. "When we go personally, they say, 'We are full'. Maybe because we are Asian, they just say 'full'."
Frankston said it could not accept patients from outside its catchment area. Others said they could only take people with Medicare cards.
Shamsul Nizam and his wife Azleena Mohamed, both PhD students at Monash, are expecting their fourth child in April. Mr Nizam said he understood the new admission policy was related to a July change that imposed a waiting period for maternity services for new overseas students.
He said the couple had been in Australia for two years and taken out four-year medical insurance policies. "How can things change halfway (through) the policy and we were not informed?" he said.
Southern Health would not say whether it had a specific policy on international students. It said while its primary role was to serve "eligible public patients" it could also accept privately insured people, but services "may vary depending on overall demand".
Zuzana Quinn, an advocate with Monash Postgraduate Association, said: "At no stage were they told that in the event that there was an emergency or their wives went into labour, they would not be refused service."
Mr Rahman said that out of the many phone calls he had made, one staff member had advised him to "just go to any hospital" in an emergency. "But we don't know what is the consequence of that. Dandenong had refused us before this so we thought it might cause problems."
Mary Pozzobon, national business implementation manager with OSHC Worldcare, said she had been asking the Victorian Health Department for months to clarify admission policies for international students. "There's no clear information on whether overseas students will be accepted and how much services will cost them," she said.
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- Australian Health Management www.ahm.com.au
- BUPA Australia www.overseasstudenthealth.com
- Medibank Private www.medibank.com.au
- OSHC Worldcare www.oshcworldcare.com.au
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Health Services Commissioner: Make A Compliant
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/hsc/complaint.htm
Note: Don't expect that a 'big impact' will happen, or that they will solve all your problem. But putting your news or compliant on their report (Health Services Commissioner), will make them aware of the loophole in their health system - and maybe they will do something about it in the future!
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Source:
http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2011/03/16/health-insurance-ceo-total-compensation-in-2009/
Health Insurance CEO Total Compensation in 2009
March 16, 2011 by Michael Ricciardelli
Insurance Co. & CEO (2009) Total CEO Compensation
Aetna, Ronald A. Williams: $18,058,162
Coventry, Allen Wise: $17,427,789 (took over from Dale Wolf)
WellPoint, Angela Braly: $13,108,198
United Health, Stephen Helmsley: $8,901,916
Cigna, David Cordoni: $6,593,921 (took over from CEO H. Edward Hanway)
Cigna, H. Edward Hanway: $18,800,000
Humana, Michael McCallister: 6,509,452
Health Net, Jay Gellert: $3,643,342
Note: Latest figures and salaries are not available, but expect to be higher than the previous year.
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Comment: Talking about human rights, and basic health facility and services, delivering a baby is as basic as one gets, we are not talking about 'cosmetic plastic surgery' here!! Maybe that's too much for AUSTRALIA to handle, but for developing countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, to name a few, that's not a problem at all, after all, its just 'BASIC HEALTH SERVICES.'
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***MEDIA RELEASE***
QUEENSLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PUTS THE LIVES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AT RISK
International students who seek obstetric care or attention at public hospitals in Queensland are being refused admission and sent to private hospitals instead due to an official memo sent out by the State's department of health.
The Council of International Students Australia (CISA) is shocked by this news. President of CISA, Arfa Noor said, “This is an incredibly irresponsible move by the Queensland State Government, placing the health of these students and their unborn children in danger.”
Students on International Student Visas must maintain private health cover for the duration of their time in Australia. As such, they are able to claim for medical treatment. However, many international students are not able to pay the upfront fees charged by private medical centres.
“International students already shy away from doctors who don't bulk bill because they cannot afford upfront fees and are also worried about loosing money due to the 'gap' between their health cover and high fee costs of private treatment. If these students cannot use a public hospital, then where are they going to get medical help?” asks Ms Noor.
“We are concerned that if students are refused admission to a public hospital, they will not seek alternative medical attention which is essential for the welfare of pregnant women and their children.”
This disturbing trend has started to spread to large hospitals in other states as well, especially Victoria. While the Victorian Health Department has denied there being any official policy about sending International Students to private hospitals, there have been several confirmed cases of students being refused treatment in three of Melbourne's hospitals.
Ms Noor said, "The problem started when hospitals and health departments put International Students in the same category as 'Visitors to the Country'. They must understand that there are significant differences between the two and as such a blanket policy can not be applied to both.”
CISA requests that the Queensland State Government immediately retract this decision and other States and the Commonwealth Governments investigate which public hospitals deny treatment to students and why.
President
Council of International Students Australia
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