Since the 1980s, Australians have had a system of universal health care that they largely take for granted. But the road there wasn’t easy. Making Medicare is a comprehensive account of the Australia’s long, tortuous and unconventional path towards universal health care – as it was established, abolished and introduced again – and of the reforms that brought it into being.

With its detailed investigation of the policy debates that have determined the shape of health care in Australia, this book is the most thorough survey of Medicare’s history published to date. But it is not just about the past. The authors offer a timely overview of further reforms needed to address the challenges facing the Australian health care system: new technologies, the ageing population and the rising tide of chronic disease.