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With talk of Medicare reform, let's not neglect vertical equity

Kim M Dalziel and Jeffrey R Richardson
Med J Aust 2015; 202 (6): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.00378
Published online: 6 April 2015

Equal treatment for equal need is not enough — positive discrimination for disadvantaged groups is also required

With the “reform” of Medicare on the political agenda, it is timely to reflect on the objectives of fairness and equity that are key goals of our national health scheme. These objectives include both “horizontal equity”, or equal treatment for equal need, and “vertical equity”, which involves appropriately different treatment for those with different needs.


  • 1 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: kim.dalziel@unimelb.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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