‘Free’ care at a cost

HEALTH funds are charging families up to $3000 a year to cover them for treatment in a public hospital, something they are entitled to for free under Medicare.

The so-called junk policies are being subsidised by taxpayers via a government tax subsidy worth up to $800.

And when health fund members go to use some of these policies they have to pay an excess of $500 a year. If they were public patients they would get their care in the same hospital for free.

Health funds continue to offer these policies even though their peak organisation is fighting to stop public hospitals charging health funds when they treat privately insured patients.

The government subsidy of these policies continues even though Health Minister Greg Hunt says he doesn’t want public hospitals to aggressively harvest privately insured patients and charge their health funds when they treat them.

The only advantage of these policies is it may offer the patient a choice of doctor but in rural areas and in an emergency there is unlikely to be any choice anyway.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Michael Gannon wants the policies scrapped and says it’s a “bit too cute” of the health funds to argue public hospitals should not charge health funds when they treat insured patients but then offer public hospital-only policies.

“They are marketing policies they don’t want people to use, surely this points to the need for a thorough Productivity Commission investigation into the value of private health insurance,” says Australian Health and Hospitals Association chief Alison Verhoeven.

A spokesman for Consumers Health Forum Australia said public hospital-only policies are not necessarily junk because they give people choice of doctor. “We think low or no-value policies are of more concern because they have some or many exclusions, restrictions and co pays which make them worthless,” he said.