The Consumers Health Forum welcomes the AMA’s position statement on health literacy as important recognition of the need for strong public support for people to have access to valid health information. “CHF has long argued for more focus on health literacy to ensure people understand their own...

The lowest average rise in health insurance premiums in nearly 20 years is welcome although many Australians in the current economic climate will struggle to meet the increased cost, the Consumers Health Forum said today. “The 2.74 per cent average increase in premiums to take effect next April is...

The Federal Government’s $2.4 billion health plan to fight COVID-19 is an impressive and wide-ranging response that prepares Australians and health services well to counter the threat of a pandemic, the Consumers Health Forum said today. “The provision of bulk-billed telehealth medical services,...

Australia should use social prescribing to counter rising chronic health problems, according to a new report from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Consumers Health Forum (CHF). Social prescribing involves the referral of patients to non-medical activities,...

The Federal Government must heed the call of its health insurance regulator and establish an independent review into private health insurance, the Consumers Health Forum says. Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority board member Geoff Summerhayes has made the call this week in a penetrating...

As so many Australians who have needed mental health care know, the ideal of universal access to the services they need is a fiction. The Productivity Commission’s draft report on mental health points to “a once in a generation opportunity to reform our mental health system”, the Consumers Health...

The battery of reviews into Australia’s health system currently underway indicate the Government recognises the need for real action and greater investment in health, but the next Federal Budget must show the Government is for real on health, the Consumers Health Forum says. Releasing CHF’s...

Australians’ views on the impact of climate change and health will be the subject of a new Australia’s Health Panel survey which launches today. “The survey on climate and health comes at a pivotal time given the bushfires that have hit so many communities hard,” the CEO of the Consumers Health...

The Medical Costs Finder website launched today is a disappointing first step towards the greater fees transparency so sadly lacking in Australia’s private medical arrangements, the Consumers Health Forum says. “But it is a start and we hope just the first step towards a system in which all doctors...

The fires and drought engulfing Australia have confronted Australians with the dire health consequences of climate change and the imperative for an urgent and credible response, the Consumers Health Forum and Climate and Health Alliance said today. “Millions of people have witnessed the direct...