Alan Hauquitz | James Cook University (original) (raw)

Address: Townsville, Queensland, Australia

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Papers by Alan Hauquitz

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 2008

Social Science & Medicine, 1995

Al~traet--This paper examines the equity characteristics of health care financing and delivery in... more Al~traet--This paper examines the equity characteristics of health care financing and delivery in Australia and compares its performance with recent findings on systems in Europe and the United States. Vertical equity of finance is evaluated with income and payment concentration indices derived from published survey data on taxes and expenditure by income decile. Horizontal equity of health care delivery is assessed with standardized expenditure concentration coefficients for three measures of health status and four types of health services, derived from household survey data on health care utilization, health status, income and demographics. Health cover is available to the entire population. Results show the financing system is slightly progressive despite the fact that 30% of payment comes from private sources, which are regressive. The equity index compares favorably to many European countries and is much better than the U.S. which has a regressive financing system. The Australian system fares less well in terms of equity of health care delivery. Several features favor privately insured higher income persons in use of health care and this is reflected, for some health status measures and types of service, in inequity favoring the better off. This contrasts with inequity favoring the less well off in many European countries and the U.S. This analysis provides a benchmark for monitoring the equity of the Australian system and provides information on the equity of a mixed private and public financing system that covers the entire population. This is relevant to the U.S. which is moving in this direction by extending private cover to the uninsured and to European countries that are increasing private sector involvement in health care financing.

Australian Journal of Public Health, 2010

Abstract: After the creation of thirteen health regions within Queensland in 1991, the need arose... more Abstract: After the creation of thirteen health regions within Queensland in 1991, the need arose for an information base at the regional level to assist regions with their role in planning, monitoring and evaluating health services. A series of regional health surveys was conducted in 1993 to provide this information, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method. Over 10 400 interviews were conducted throughout the state. This is the first time a computer-assisted method has been used on a large scale to collect health-related information in Australia. Interviews used list-directed or random-digit dialling, depending on the rate of unlisted numbers in a region. Response rates were not significantly different for the two methods, although the number of contactable numbers attempted and the noncontact rates were significantly higher for random-digit regions. The last-birthday method was used to select the adult for interview in each household. The method resulted in a bias toward female respondents.

National macroeconomic policy decisions have a substantial effect on the health status of a natio... more National macroeconomic policy decisions have a substantial effect on the health status of a nation's population. Research in both industrialized and newly industrialized countries have shown a lagged positive relationship between the unemployment rate ,(an indicator of recession) and mortality due to several causes, particularly cardiovascular diseases. That relationship has been found at the national, regional, and individual level. However, the relationship has not been fully appreciated by policymakers, and those social costs have traditionally not been measured by economists. This paper reviews some of the major studies that have demonstrated the unemployment/mortality relationship. Policymakers In industrializing nations need to consider this fundamental relationship between unemployment and mortality as they design and implement national development strategies.

Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 2008

Social Science & Medicine, 1995

Al~traet--This paper examines the equity characteristics of health care financing and delivery in... more Al~traet--This paper examines the equity characteristics of health care financing and delivery in Australia and compares its performance with recent findings on systems in Europe and the United States. Vertical equity of finance is evaluated with income and payment concentration indices derived from published survey data on taxes and expenditure by income decile. Horizontal equity of health care delivery is assessed with standardized expenditure concentration coefficients for three measures of health status and four types of health services, derived from household survey data on health care utilization, health status, income and demographics. Health cover is available to the entire population. Results show the financing system is slightly progressive despite the fact that 30% of payment comes from private sources, which are regressive. The equity index compares favorably to many European countries and is much better than the U.S. which has a regressive financing system. The Australian system fares less well in terms of equity of health care delivery. Several features favor privately insured higher income persons in use of health care and this is reflected, for some health status measures and types of service, in inequity favoring the better off. This contrasts with inequity favoring the less well off in many European countries and the U.S. This analysis provides a benchmark for monitoring the equity of the Australian system and provides information on the equity of a mixed private and public financing system that covers the entire population. This is relevant to the U.S. which is moving in this direction by extending private cover to the uninsured and to European countries that are increasing private sector involvement in health care financing.

Australian Journal of Public Health, 2010

Abstract: After the creation of thirteen health regions within Queensland in 1991, the need arose... more Abstract: After the creation of thirteen health regions within Queensland in 1991, the need arose for an information base at the regional level to assist regions with their role in planning, monitoring and evaluating health services. A series of regional health surveys was conducted in 1993 to provide this information, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method. Over 10 400 interviews were conducted throughout the state. This is the first time a computer-assisted method has been used on a large scale to collect health-related information in Australia. Interviews used list-directed or random-digit dialling, depending on the rate of unlisted numbers in a region. Response rates were not significantly different for the two methods, although the number of contactable numbers attempted and the noncontact rates were significantly higher for random-digit regions. The last-birthday method was used to select the adult for interview in each household. The method resulted in a bias toward female respondents.

National macroeconomic policy decisions have a substantial effect on the health status of a natio... more National macroeconomic policy decisions have a substantial effect on the health status of a nation's population. Research in both industrialized and newly industrialized countries have shown a lagged positive relationship between the unemployment rate ,(an indicator of recession) and mortality due to several causes, particularly cardiovascular diseases. That relationship has been found at the national, regional, and individual level. However, the relationship has not been fully appreciated by policymakers, and those social costs have traditionally not been measured by economists. This paper reviews some of the major studies that have demonstrated the unemployment/mortality relationship. Policymakers In industrializing nations need to consider this fundamental relationship between unemployment and mortality as they design and implement national development strategies.

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