John's $12 tonic: Press coverage of the government's selling of a private health insurance rebate

Objective: To document representations of the 1998 introduction of a 30% re bate on private health insurance in the three most-read daily Sydney newspa pers. Methods: Thematic frame analysis of 131 newspaper articles. Results: The rebate was opposed through two frames: that it was ineffective and unfair, and that it was politically motivated. Four supportive frames were more complex: the rebate was justified by claims that public health ca re was collapsing, that responsible citizens should pay for their own healt h care, and that individuals would benefit financially. There was also a fo cus on the political battle in the Senate. The newspaper with the readershi p least likely to benefit from the rebate supported it most strongly. Conclusions: Framing was strongly episodic (two dimensional, decontextualis ed and case-study based), limiting political accountability, and the anti-r ebate case was presented less memorably. Community action around the issue was not encouraged, individual responsibility was emphasised and universal health care was not promoted as fair or necessary. Different readerships re ceived different messages about the rebate. Implications: There is an urgent need to promote the value of the public he alth care system and make the future of Medicare compelling for news editor s and the public.