That time of the year is approaching. After the annual hikes in government fees and charges that come with the new year, April looms and Australia’s private health insurance providers begin talking about how much more it’s going to cost.
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Already there are rumblings that private health costs are “only” going to rise by about 4 per cent, or roughly $200 a year. The average increase since 2010 is 5.9 per cent.
Four per cent may not sound like much, but it’s about double the current rate of inflation, and comes at a time when wages growth is flat and other basic costs like electricity are going through the roof.
We hear the same stories every year: People cannot afford to pay more for their private health insurance and drop it, adding to the pressure on a public system already struggling to meet the demands being heaped on it.
I cannot imagine anyone envies our health ministers their jobs. They occasionally gets to pose for the cameras with a cute newborn, but the light moments would be few and far between. More likely, the ministers’ days are filled with meetings with bureaucrats over money.
Healthcare is really all about money: How much is available to build hospitals and then not only staff them, but also fit them out with equipment build more recently than the Victorian era.
Then there’s the subsidies provided for medication through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, public dentists and more.
It is an issue that vexes not only Australia’s politicians.
The British have the National Health Service, which promises free health care, but weighs heavily on the national coffers. Having taken pride in the NHS for almost 70 years, it’s going to be a hard slog for any future government to convince the Brits to pony up to visit a GP or to contribute towards the cost of a dental visit.
Across the Atlantic from Britain, the Americans have likewise gone down a healthcare path that struggles to keep up with demand.
The American reliance on “health insurance” has lead to a patchwork system of coverage which can limit people to particular hospital or doctors and, in some cases, even restrict the drugs they can afford to buy for their treatments.
There are no easy solutions on the issue, but Australia is a country with an ageing population that is only going to need increasing access to healthcare.
The private health system does seem to lift some of the burden from the public waiting list, but there are plenty who would argue that the government would be better off ploughing the 30 per cent rebate it provides on premiums back into the public system.
Health fund membership has been declining in Australia since 2015, and the gap between the Medicare schedule and what doctors and surgeons actually charge has only been widened by a government freeze on rebate levels.
We can debate all we like on the “best” healthcare system in the world, but the bottom line is that we are stuck with the one we’ve got. A radical overhaul is simply going to be too expensive.
But if you want to get radical, how about an overhaul of the policies themselves? Simple, transparent rules clearly outlining what’s covered, what’s not and the cost.
Upfront, concise information would make it much easier to decide whether private health cover is worth it … or not.
Jody Lindbeck
jody.lindbeck@fairfaxmedia.com.au