Accessible and affordable healthcare? Views of Australians with and without chronic conditions

Background: With 50% of Australians having chronic disease, health consumer views are an important barometer of the “health” of the healthcare system for system improvement and sustainability.

Aims: To describe the views of Australian health consumers with and without chronic conditions when accessing healthcare.

Methods: A survey of a representative sample of 1,024 Australians aged over 18 years, distributed electronically and incorporating standardised questions and questions co‐designed with consumers.

Results: Respondents were aged 18–88 years (432 males, 592 females) representing all states and territories, and rural and urban locations. General practices (84.6%), pharmacies (62.1%) and public hospitals (32.9%) were the most frequently accessed services. Most care was received through face‐to‐face consultations; only 16.5% of respondents accessed care via telehealth. The 605 (59.0%) respondents with chronic conditions were less likely to have private health insurance (50.3% vs 57.9%), more likely to skip doses of prescribed medicines (53.6% vs 28.6%), and miss appointments with doctors (15.3% vs 10.1%) or dentists (52.8% vs 40.4%) because of cost. Among 480 respondents without private health insurance unaffordability (73.5%) or poor value for money (35.3%) were the most common reasons. Most respondents (87.7%) were confident that they would receive high‐quality and safe care. However, only 57% of people with chronic conditions were confident that they could afford needed healthcare compared with 71.3% without.

Conclusions: Health consumers, especially those with chronic conditions, identified significant cost barriers to access of healthcare. Equitable access to healthcare must be at the centre of health reform.