The current public debate about health care is concerned almost exclusively with the question of how much public subsidy is to be allocated to this or that group of suppliers (general practitioners, medical specialists, public hospitals, or private insurers). It avoids the critical question for reformers and consumers alike, which is how to turn around a situation where no part of our current system provides a financial incentive to manage health risks to keep people out of hospital, or develop marketable advantages around good management of health outcomes. Vern Hughes explores health care reform the 'co-operative' way.

Two low-income communities in Australia that have explored "opting out" of Medicare, and taking their Medicare financial entitlements with them. Apanipimu health service is an Aboriginal organisation on Cape York, searching for new approaches to the appalling state of Indigenous health, and South Kingsville Health Services Co-op is a patient-owned health service in Melbourne’s deprived west.