John Karagiannis realised something was wrong with his eyesight when he could no longer see his two sons clearly on the football field on Saturday mornings. He was diagnosed with cataracts after an eye test at his local Specsavers.

Karagiannis, 61, did not think twice about going down the private hospital path. He had had private health insurance since he was 18 and rarely used it. However, he was surprised by the out-of-pocket costs for what is one of the most common surgeries in Australia.