Journal article
In sickness and in prison: The case for removing the medicare exclusion for australian prisoners
C Cumming, SA Kinner, DB Preen, AC Larsen
Journal of Law and Medicine | THOMSON REUTERS AUSTRALIA LTD | Published : 2018
Abstract
Many current and former prisoners experience significantly higher rates of physical and mental health problems than others in the community, and are among the most marginalised and disadvantaged people in society. This article argues that granting prison health services an exemption under s 19(2) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) would make the Medicare Benefits Schedule and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-funded services available to prisoners who meet the eligibility criteria. Australian prisoners would then receive a level of care at least equivalent to that offered by community health services. Reducing health inequities that prisoners experience, particularly Indigenous prisoner..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
Craig Cumming: Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Australia. Stuart A Kinner: Senior Principal Research Fellow, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia and Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Australia; Mater Research Institute-UQ, University of Queensland, Australia; School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia. David B Preen: Chair in Public Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Western Australia, Australia. Ann-Claire Larsen: Senior Lecturer, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Australia. Craig Cumming is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (PhD). This funding source had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this manuscript or the decision to submit this manuscript for publication. Craig Cumming developed the original research idea and wrote the initial draft manuscript under Ann-Claire Larsen's supervision. All authors contributed significantly to writing and developing the final manuscript.