Health insurance industry needs a check-up

“Private hospitals are in crisis and that’s in no small part due to the health insurance industry.

“Now the Minister says insurers are increasing payments to private hospitals. But the hospitals say this claim is based on false data, dodgy analysis and accounting tricks like double-counting and padding the numbers out with things that don’t even go to hospitals. In other words smoke and mirrors, designed to make insurers look good.

“And all the while patients are being slugged with higher premiums for less care, and some hospitals are financially distressed and facing closure. But at the same time the health insurance companies, in particular the for-profits, are doing very nicely indeed, thank you very much. A cynic might even say they’re laughing all the way to the bank.

“Yes, about six months ago the Health Minister promised to hold the industry to account and said there would be consequences if they didn’t lift payments. But they haven’t. And instead of cracking down, the Government is covering up, and that’s simply not good enough.

“The situation won’t change until the Government puts in place serious guardrails, like requiring a minimum ratio of benefits to premiums, and a coherent system of judging what each patient’s treatment ought to cost so hospitals aren’t able or forced to cherry-pick patients.