Health insurance premiums to rise again

Private health insurers have warned premiums will have to rise again if they have to pay more to keep private hospitals open but hospital operators claim the insurers are still short-changing them, instead pocketing billions in profits.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Stepping in to break up a fight between private hospitals
and insurers. Mark Butler says he was losing his patients.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's been clear insurers have been keeping more of the
cash for themselves and paying less of it to the hospitals.
This was unacceptable.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
It's forced the closure of twenty private hospitals and more
than seventy services, including maternity and mental health care.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Then we know that there are a number that are
currently on the brinks of brink of collapse.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now a deal to keep them open. The big health
insurers have agreed to cough up more from eighty cents
for every dollar paid in premiums to eighty seven, still
below the eighty eight percent benchmark.

Speaker 4 (00:42):
Private hospitals have struggled with inflation, so more money has
been injected into the system by the health funds.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
But a caution, millions of policyholders will likely pay the price.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
If we introduce additional funding. Ultimately it will come out
of people's places in premiums.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
But the Health Minister has warned the insurers not to
increase premiums, saying it's time to work with the private
hospitals and put patients before profits.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
We will continue to monitor this closely.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Patents are putting their hard earned money into private health insurance,
and we want to be making sure that they are
getting value out of their.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Policies, which won't happen if more hospitals close. Jennifer Beshwati
seven News