Public/private hospital deals come at a premium for patients

QUEENSLANDERS are being treated as private ­patients by public hospitals in record numbers, forcing up the cost of health insurance.

QUEENSLANDERS are being treated as private ­patients by public hospitals in record numbers, forcing up the cost of health insurance.

Health Minister Greg Hunt is calling on the state’s hospitals to stop targeting ­patients when they are being admitted.

The rate of patients using private health in Queensland’s public hospitals more than doubled over the past six years.

More than 12 per cent of public hospital admissions in Queensland are now funded by private health insurance, according to the latest data.

Bek Gardner was admitted to the Royal Brisbane Hospital last week for emergency appendix surgery, despite having private health insurance. Picture: AAP/ Ric Frearson

Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Rachel David said that hospital staff were waiting in emergency departments to persuade ­patients to go private.

Dr David said that this was resulting in public patients being treated more poorly and the cost of private health going up.

She said that there were genuine reasons for going ­private in a public hospital, ­including when a patient needed to be treated by a ­particular specialist.

“There’s been no growth in those types of admissions, but what we’ve seen is growth in hospitals proactively harvesting patients through emergency departments,” she said.

“We need to have full consent at the point of electing, no manipulative conversations or incentives offered as that type of conversation is not appropriate.”

Mr Hunt said the Queensland Government’s practice of targeting private patients was to blame.

“This drives up private health insurance premiums while blowing out public ­hospital waiting lists,” Mr Hunt said.

“Any inequity between public and private patients is unacceptable and this practice must stop.

“The Queensland Government are harvesting private patients through emergency departments, putting an unacceptable strain on the system,” he said.

“(Premier) Annastacia Palaszczuk and (Health Minister) Steven Miles are driving up the cost of private health insurance premiums for thousands of Queenslanders.”

Bek Gardner (pictured), 18, of Alderley, an inner-north Brisbane suburb, was admitted to the Royal Brisbane Hospital last week for emergency appendix surgery, despite having private health insurance.

“It would have been about $350 as an out-of-pocket fee to go to a private hospital, so we made the decision to go public since it didn’t cost my family anything,” she said.

She admitted she would reconsider using her private health insurance at a public hospital if it would push up her premiums.