[LINK] Centrelink and HIC thrown open to outsourcers in national smartcard push

[Marghanita da Cruz]

The outsourcing being toated here is of medical insurance not ICT.

Discoverd this blurb for a book
http://www.uts.edu.au/new/index.html
> 
> An unhealthy conflict: private interests and the public purse 	
> 	
> 	
> 
> The growth of private health insurance in Australia has been at substantial cost to the taxpayer and the current situation is not sustainable according to the contribution of Australian researchers to a new international survey of the ideologies and inefficiencies that have shaped health care reform.
> 
> Professor Jane Hall and Associate Professor Elizabeth Savage from the UTS Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) have contributed a chapter on the role of the private sector in Australia to the book "The Public-Private Mix for Health", released recently in the UK.
> 
> In the article Hall and Savage argue that the public-private mix in Australian health care is more complicated than most comparable countries, and made more so by the recent Howard Government strategy on private health insurance.
> 
> The authors say that this complexity has resulted in substantial opportunities for cost shifting and barriers to coordination.
> 
> "The private health insurance incentives have proved to be expensive, and indeed have increased the Commonwealth Government's share of total health care expenditure. The impact has been regressive, with proportionately more of the benefits accruing to higher income groups.
> 
> "The conflict between private interests and the public purse is now being seen in the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and in general practice." 



Howard Lowndes wrote:
> To be fair to Joe Hockey, he has not had that portfolio for too long - 
> since the election, so I guess he inherited most of the mess.
> 
> 
> Glen Turner wrote:
> 
>> Joe Hockey said:
>>
>>> "But that has changed, there is now direct accountability. Those people
>>> responsible for the decision will be the people responsible for the end
>>> game. It is also the case that there needs to be checks and balance 
>>> along
>>> the way.
>>>
>>> "It is also the case that those people responsible for a failed project
>>> cannot be allowed to continue in their existing roles, and that is 
>>> what we
>>> did," Hockey said.
>>
>>
>>
>> Oh goody.  So ministers and treasurers who promise changes to the
>> social security system which will be imlpemented by some politically
>> expedient date, ignoring more conservative dates from the project
>> managers, will be for the chop if there is a cost blow-out due
>> to overtime and additional staffing.
>>
>> Three cheers for this long-overdue application of direct accountability.
>>
>> And let's consider for a moment a Minister who's agencies blew
>> $67m in a single failed IT project. Now the US and UK experiences
>> with social security and health IT systems hasn't been pleasant,
>> so it's not as thought the highly-educated and well-travelled Minister
>> would be unaware of the potential for problems. So why wasn't there
>> a closer oversight of similar projects in Australia?  Surely that's
>> a sackable offence under the regime described by the Minister?
>>
>> Let's be real.  Someone has kicked Joe Hockey's arse, and he is
>> kicking those below him in turn.  And that's pretty typical of
>> the level of leadership from most of the current ministers.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
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>>
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Director, Ramin Communications Pty Ltd
http://www.ramin.com.au
ABN 28-089-713-084

Chair ACS Governance of ICT Committee
http://www.acs.org.au/governance

Telephone: 0414-869202
mailto:marghanita at ramin.com.au