Medibank private threatens patients' right of hospital choice
Chair of the AMA Federal Council, Dr Wainwright, said today that Medibank Private is threatening to take away patients' rights to choose their own hospital for treatment.
It has been widely reported today that Medibank Private is planning to tear up contracts with certain hospitals in an attempt to rein in the cost of its premiums.
Dr Wainwright said this sort of intervention by health funds is not welcome in the Australian health system.
"This is managed care," Dr Wainwright said.
"Medibank Private has 30 per cent of the national health insurance market. They are seeking to effectively remove the right of patients, their members, to choose their own hospital - a move that will affect a lot of patients.
"Medibank Private needs to understand that patients, in consultation with their doctors, make decisions about where treatment will be provided, not health funds.
"If Medibank Private succeeds in excluding hospitals from contracts, those hospitals will be sent to the wall. This will reduce the already short supply of hospital beds. This means reduced access and higher health costs for patients - including higher premiums.
"These outcomes are bad for patients, private health insurance, the hospitals and Medibank Private.
"Medibank Private lines up every year for its premium increase, so it cannot cry poor at having to make higher payments to providers. It would be better for Medibank Private to reintroduce hospital gaps than to selectively contract.
"It also shows there is a desperate need for a default benefit like the 2nd tier, which the Government is proposing to take away. The 2nd tier default benefit is a major weapon against managed care by health funds," Dr Wainwright said.
The 2nd tier benefit was introduced in 1998 at the request of the private hospitals and as a consequence of the unconscionable conduct of health funds in contract negotiations. The benefit is set at 85 per cent of the average contracted rate paid for the same procedure in a similar hospital in the same State.
CONTACT: Dr Dana Wainwright 0418 876 747
John Flannery (02) 6270 5477 / (0419) 494 761