Ditch the Double-Dipping and Cut Hospital Waiting Lists

30 May 2008

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) today called for the removal of incentives for public hospitals to ‘chase and retain’ private patients at the expense of public patients stranded on elective surgery waiting lists.

In its submission to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC), APHA also calls for the end of public hospitals’ double-dipping and cost shifting by receiving payments from health insurance funds for the treatment of private patients in addition to the funding they already receive from the Australian Government to treat all Australians under the AHCA.

“States are encouraging public hospitals to maximise their private patient revenue, to the point of using financial and other incentives to induce patients to use their private health insurance at a public hospital,” said Michael Roff, CEO of APHA. “Surveys commissioned by the Australian Government indicate that one in every three patients felt some form of pressure, or were not given a choice, when ‘electing’ to become a private patient in a public hospital.

“We are calling for a cap on private inpatient admissions in public hospitals in the next Australian Health Care Agreements and ask the NHHRC to investigate ways that public hospitals could be incentivised to transfer privately insured patients to appropriate private hospitals to ease the burden on the public system.”

APHA is calling for a number of additional measures in their submission to the NHHRC to look at a national, holistic health system including:
• increasing the scope of the next Australian Health Care Agreements to enable national priorities to be addressed, including education and training needs for the health workforce, providing clinical placements across the health system and the establishment of a national framework for measuring and reporting on the safety and quality of health services;
• incorporating the private sector into national planning exercises as an active participant;
• tasking the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare with developing a data collection that will enable the relative efficiency of different elements of the health care system to be evaluated and reported annually.
• rationalising the existing plethora of regulation and reporting requirements imposed on private hospitals. The NHHRC should establish what information and data is important to report and require this information and data to be reported once, nationally.
APHA’s full submission to the NHHRC can be viewed at the APHA website, www.apha.org.au

For further information, contact:
Lisa Ramshaw, Public Affairs Manager, APHA
02 6273 9000 or 0413 971 999