"For all its strength, absurdities do haunt Australia’s health “system”. It was this subject which made for a cracking start to CHF’s national workshop this week. The two-day meeting in Melbourne heard a flood of ideas to boost the consumers’ role and improve health care." A blog by CHF Communications Director Mark Metherell.

"The Australian health system wallows in a state of uncertainty as the federal ­government grapples with how to match its budgetary vigour with the reality of heavy demand and strained supply in healthcare" A blog by CHF CEO Adam Stankevicius published in the Financial Review

In this blog, originally published on Croakey, CHF CEO Adam Stankevicius highlights the problems for transparency with Medicine Australia’s proposed code of conduct.

The evidence continues to mount against the Federal Government’s proposed health measures and the rationale for their introduction. In this blog, Adam Stankevicius, CEO of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia, looks at how Australia compares in a range of important areas, and the implications of measures like the proposed $7 copayments regime

'The idea of a $20 billion medical research endowment fund being financed by new imposts on the sick will seem dark farce to the many health consumers already struggling with rising out of pocket health costs.' CHF CEO Adam Stankevicius on medical research and priorities for the Federal Health Budget.

'Few would argue that Australia’s health system faces extraordinary cost challenges if we are to maintain any pretence of a universal health scheme.' CHF's CEO Adam Stankevicius on the health budget debate.

"There seems to be a blind spot in Australia when it comes to public awareness of the availability of care for those who need it but often can’t afford it." In this blog the Consumers Health Forum’s Mark Metherell talks about the proposed co-payment for bulk-billed GP visits, and the impact of health costs for consumers - particularly those with serious or chronic illness.

'Australians by now should have grown accustomed to having one of the fattest populations on earth so, in one sense, the fat phenomenon is no novelty.' In this blog published on Croakey, Mark Metherell, the Consumers Health Forum’s Communication Manager, talks about the latest National Health Performance Authority’s report on rates of smoking and obesity and how Medicare Locals can use the rates in their region to improve health outcomes.

Mark Metherell, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia's (CHF) Communications Manager kicks off the OurHealth blog with an inside look into last month's out of pocket cost campaign launched by CHF. Metherell sheds light on the compelling reasons that led CHF to raise awareness and call for action on out of pocket costs. Why is this an important issue? What's the affect on health and wellbeing? What was the media reaction?

Mark Metherell, the Consumers Health Forum’s Communication Manager, dissects the recent Council of Australian Government’s Reform Council report on how well our health system is performing.