Over the past weeks I have been made aware by friends of the frightening situation facing patients and staff in our public hospitals emergency departments, and the near certainty that the position will worsen shortly.
In this situation, would it be feasible for the state government to select a date - say 30 November - and advise the public that any unvaccinated person presenting at hospital with covid (with the exception of people with the appropriate medical exemption) after that date would be billed a proportion of their hospital treatment costs because of the unnecessary strain they would be placing upon the already strained health system?
Any measure that has an impact on peoples' hip pockets seems to capture their attention, and I refer to the threat in recent years to cut funds to unvaccinated children at day care, and the last few weeks with mandated vaccination for essential work. In both instances vaccination rates improved.
In this situation, would it be feasible for the state government to select a date - say 30 November - and advise the public that any unvaccinated person presenting at hospital with covid (with the exception of people with the appropriate medical exemption) after that date would be billed a proportion of their hospital treatment costs because of the unnecessary strain they would be placing upon the already strained health system?
Any measure that has an impact on peoples' hip pockets seems to capture their attention, and I refer to the threat in recent years to cut funds to unvaccinated children at day care, and the last few weeks with mandated vaccination for essential work. In both instances vaccination rates improved.