ABSTRACT
One of the wealthiest healthcare markets in Asia-Pacific, Australia’s spending on health is at par with European markets such as Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Similar to many other developed countries in the world, increased life expectancy, income, and demands for a higher quality of life are driving an increase in health expenditure. Healthcare provision in Australia is made up of public and private funding: Public expenditure is funded by the Commonwealth (central) Government under a health care system called Medicare: Australia’s universal, tax-financed insurance scheme covering medical, pharmaceutical, and public hospital services. Private
expenditure is largely funded through insurance. However, Medicare also pays 75% of the schedule fee for services and procedures provided in private hospitals. Australia’s medical device manufacturing industry is also growing: There were 655 medical devices companies in Australia in 2007, 30 more than the previous year. In 2009, Australia had domestic medical device sales of AUD 6 billion and earned export revenue of AUD 1.7 billion, employing at least 17,500 people.
