Grattan Institute report fails to understand private sector

Tuesday, 16 July 2019

Grattan Institute report fails to understand private sector
The latest Grattan Institute report on private health insurance shows a complete lack of understanding of
the contribution of the private health sector to Australian health care, says Australian Private Hospitals
Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff.

"The report – which by its own admission raises questions but provides no answers – fails to understand
the basics of private hospital care. This is concerning when it claims to be the basis for discussing
Government support of health insurance.

"As a basis for policy-maker decision making, its failure to understand what private hospitals offer
Australians it is a poor starting point for the debate."
Mr Roff said the 'context' provided by the report for policy makers is outdated and flawed.

"The report claims 'Complex procedures requiring specialised equipment of skills are rarely available in
private hospitals'.

"This is absolute rubbish. New technology and equipment are almost universally introduced first into the
private system. A good example of this is robotic surgery. Commonplace now in major private and public
hospitals, this technology was pioneered in Australia at the Epworth, a private hospital in Melbourne.

"There are 801 procedures available in public hospitals, private hospitals perform 796 of them. The five not
performed in private are major organ transplants," he said.

Additional debate on health insurance is welcomed, but needs to be a genuine discussion of ideas – based
on facts and a real understanding of the system, not notions of how things were last century.

"We need to ensure there is genuine, sector-wide and Government cooperation to address issues. This
means not simply adopting simplistic health insurer proposals to stop paying for services or denying their
members' access to high quality care if a health fund bean counter thinks they should only get access to a
cut-price option.

"We know out-of-pocket medical costs are a cause of consumer dissatisfaction and there is a collaborative
process underway to address that issue.

"Recent revelations about major health funds illegally rejecting customer claims mean we need to review if
current regulations are strong enough. But we also need a discussion about the role of so-called junk
policies – are they products that are fit for purpose or do they ultimately undermine the value proposition of
private health?" Mr Roff said.

-ENDSMedia contact: Frith Rayner, Director Communications and Marketing, 0413 971 999
Report: grattan.edu.au/report/the-history-of-private-health-insurance/

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) is the peak industry body representing the private hospital and day surgery
sector. The private hospital sector treats 3.69 million patients a year, including treatment of more than a third of chemotherapy, 60
percent of all surgery, 74 percent of all elective musculoskeletal surgery and 79 percent of rehabilitation.

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

Next Media Centre:
20/8/2019 Aussies continue to value private hospital care

Previous Media Centre:
23/6/2019 Victorian public hospital review welcomed