Health service use of Australian unemployment and disability benefit recipients: a national, cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Healthcare is funded and delivered separately from income support programs such as unemployment and disability benefits. Greater understanding of the health service use (HSU) of benefit recipients would support more effective design and delivery of health and income support programs. This study aimed to characterise the HSU of disability and unemployment benefit recipients relative to people earning wages, while controlling for personal, household and health-related factors associated with HSU in benefit recipients. METHODS: A cross-sectional national survey of 9110 working age Australian adults in three groups: (1) 566 receiving the disability support pension (DSP); (2) 410 rece..