Private Healthcare Australia (PHA) is calling for a balance between the country’s private and public health system to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic successfully.
Dr Rachel David, the chief executive officer of PHA, said it is crucial to maintain a balance as the public hospital system remains under pressure amid the pandemic.
“The Budget includes important steps towards addressing the value of private health insurance, and the industry will continue to work with the government to address the changes necessary to ensure the affordability of private health especially for young Australians,” David said.
David warned that further government intervention is still needed to rein in escalating health sector costs that are impacting premiums.
“Health inflation will continue unabated unless some of the restrictive and anti-competitive rules affecting private health insurance are addressed. These are factors not within the control of health funds and require Federal Government intervention,” she said.
“We need strong action to improve the value of medical devices to the consumer, for example, holding multinational medical device companies to account for charging Australians inflated prices for prostheses and for promoting the overuse of prostheses. A common heart stent costs five times more in Australia than NZ.”
“Affordability is an issue right across the health system, but with estimated wait times in the public system likely to exceed 1.5 years for common elective procedures, the value of private health insurance has never been greater. Health funds are committed to looking after their members, so if you are under financial stress as a result of COVID-19, contact your health fund to discuss your options,” David concluded.
