This Month
Ramsay, Healthscope reject ‘nonsense’ health insurance funding promise
The country’s biggest private hospital operators will push the government to force an increase in the percentage of their premiums paid to them.
Healthscope calls in KordaMentha to prepare its contingency plans
The country’s second-largest private hospital operator has engaged the restructuring experts just days after it failed to pay rent on 11 properties.
Healthscope resolves funding dispute with non-profit insurers
The Brookfield-owned private hospital giant said the agreement meant millions of members of the funds would not need to pay additional out-of-pocket fees.
February
Health insurance premiums to rise 3.7pc in new cost-of-living hit
Health Minister Mark Butler has signed off on an above-inflation hike in private health insurance premiums, the biggest rise since 2018.
January
Healthscope and Bupa avert funding crisis with new deal
The new agreement means hundreds of thousands of patients will be spared from paying higher hospital costs.
Health insurers baulk at Labor pitch to expand maternity cover
Changes floated by the Health Department include forcing funds to pay more for hospital-in-the-home programs to take pressure off private hospitals.
December 2024
Bupa offers Healthscope doctors payments to switch hospitals
The health insurer giant is offering Healthscope doctors up to $500 per patient if they move to another hospital.
Health insurers tricking members with secret premium rises: Labor
Health Minister Mark Butler says insurers are exploiting a loophole that allows them to charge hundreds more by replacing products with more expensive new ones.
Doctors say health insurers have too much control over home care
The AMA is warning that Australia is at risk of adopting “US-style managed care” where insurance companies call all the shots.
Insurers warn of premium hikes after losing NSW bed rate battle
Private health insurers have caved to pressure from the Minns government to pay higher hospital bed rates following a protracted campaign.
November 2024
Health insurers warn of closures without 6pc premium hike
Health funds have asked Labor to allow big premium rises as the amount they charge policyholders is not keeping pace with healthcare inflation.
The woman defending the industry everyone loves to hate
Private health insurers are being derided all around, but their chief lobbyist, Rachel David, insists they make our medical system the envy of the Americans and British.
Health insurer salaries in the spotlight as premiums climb
The salaries of Australia’s big health insurance bosses are rising with their profits.
Private hospitals warn of more closures after Labor refuses bailout
Health Minister Mark Butler has told struggling private hospital operators to sort out their own problems and resolve differences with insurers.
October 2024
Healthscope vows to terminate Bupa deal if it does not accept fees
Healthscope has written to Bupa asking it to amend its contract to let it slug members with extra hospital fees.
Healthscope to slug Bupa members $100 extra for hospital stays
Six million Australian health fund members will be forced to pay higher charges to use the services of the country’s second-largest private hospital group.
Health insurers have landed in a world of pain, political or otherwise
They’re under fire from parliamentarians and hospitals for making too much profit, and yet are caught in a customer land grab that is shaving away profits.
September 2024
Healthscope forces big insurers to cough up to repair its profits
Medibank Private, NIB and HCF have agreed to out-of-cycle funding payments in the “tens of millions of dollars” for the Brookfield-owned hospital group.
February 2024
Bupa becomes a venture capital player with $20m fund
Bupa Asia Pacific has raised funds to try and make the corporate VC model work, by backing the next generation of health tech start-ups.
July 2023
Bupa names new local chief executive
Nick Stone has been tapped to lead Bupa Asia Pacific, succeeding long-serving chief executive Hisham El-Ansary who stepped down last year after 15 years with the healthcare group.