Is private hospital really a problem? And are more public funds answering?

no way battle It is open publicly among private hospitals and personal health insurers.

At the center, there is a amount of money paid by a health insurance company to the hospital and whether it is enough for private hospitals to be executed.

Concerns about the possibility of survival of private health systems attracted the interest of the federal government. examine Private hospital that has not yet been disclosed.

But is private hospitals really a problem? If so, are more public funds answering?

Private hospital vs. personal health insurance company

Many private hospital operators have reported significant pressure since the covid trend began. Staff.

Due to inflation pressure, supply and equipment costs have increased Increases cost Provided by hospital treatment.

Private hospitals have now been supported and disclosed difficult contract negotiations with personal health insurers to help them.

HealthScope, which runs 38 for -profit private hospitals in Australia, inclement End of the contract Personal health insurance company.

St Vincent ‘s, who runs a non -profit non -profit private hospital presentation End of the contract with NIB (one of the largest profit and health insurers in Australia) I reached the contract.

UNITINGCARE QUEENSLAND, which runs four private hospitals presentation We will terminate the contract with the Australian Health Service Association, which represents more than 20 small and medium -sized private health insurance companies. Since then, there are two parties Kissed and made.

Why should we care?

There are three reasons that affect us all, regardless of whether we have personal health insurance or whether we have personal hospitals.

1. Taxpayers pay subsidies to their personal health systems.

Australian taxpayers assisted personal health insurance premiums as a subsidy. $ 6.3 billion
(Premium rebate) 2021 ~ 22 years. Most of this heads to private hospitals. Medicare also paid subsidies for medical services provided for individual patients in private and public hospitals. $ 38.1 billion 2023 ~ 24 years.

However, if the progress is difficult, the private health sector (both hospitals and health insurance companies) Handout.

So we have to worry value We now get more public investments in public investments in public investments if they need more public investment.

2. When private hospitals are closed, public hospitals can be affected.

The demand for greater support from the government for private health would help longer the larger private hospital divisions would help to reduce pressure on public systems.

Actually, this was a series of justification Incentive In the late 1990s, it was introduced to support Australia’s private health insurance.

But this is a hot debate. Recent evidence More personal health insurance coverage shows only waterfalls with very small waiting times in public hospitals.

The closure of some private hospitals can lead some patients to be treated in a public hospital, but this change is not big and the waiting time may not increase too much.

3. There are few private beds, but is that bad?

If the impossible private hospital is near or merged, it is expected that there will be few private hospital beds.

Less private hospital beds are not necessarily bad news. In particular, the merger of small private hospitals is especially efficient and low, and health insurance premiums are lowered.

There may be less personal beds. This is due to the policy of attempting to convert health care from hospitals to communities, or using the use of home systems (when patients receive hospital types at home by supporting health employees and/or remote health). Both personal health insurance companies are supported.

If a small number of small private hospitals are closed, this reflects that the market reduces the demand for hospital management. Some of the closures were for childbirth wards Reduction of birth rateThis also looks like an appropriate market adjustment.

What do we know?

The objective data on what happens in the private hospital sector is as follows. scarce. Mainly Australian Statistics Bureau I stopped the required survey Of all private hospitals. The latest data we have is 2016-17.

Health insurers are the largest payers of private hospitals, so they have a significant amount of negotiations. Almost in 2016-17 80% The income of private hospitals came from personal health insurers. Health insurers also want to passively pay insurance claims, as well as to lower their premiums (and costs) and increase their profits.

Hospital closing Ignore the hospital that opens at the same time. However, after 2016-17, there are no publicly reported data on the number of private hospitals in Australia, or it will not change over time.

The latest character we showed half It is private among all hospitals in Australia 62% The rest of the non -profit organizations (e.g. St Vincent’s) is for -profit.

The main provider is Ramsay Health Care and HealthScope. Both were operated abroad and went in problem Before the cobid epidemic.

It was fast in 2024, and the recent issue of contract negotiations suggests that the financial situation of for -profit private hospitals may not have improved. Therefore, this can reflect the long -term problem of sustainability in the private hospital sector.

What is the option?

Private health systems are already receiving large public subsidies. So the core of the current debate is whether the government should intervene. again To consume the private sector. Some options are as follows:

• Do nothing, do not do this to be postponed. If a small hospital and a ward are no longer needed and the patient has a different alternative, it may be a good to close and merge the private hospital.

• Introducing more regulations Negotiations between small groups of private hospitals and very dominant personal health insurance companies may not be efficient. If the insurer has a significant market, you can submit a small group of private hospitals. Some private hospital groups can negotiate with many other health insurers at the same time, which can cost a lot. Precise regulations on how these negotiations occur, you can make the process more efficiently and create a more level of stadium.

• Change the method of paying a private hospital Public hospitals are essentially paid for each procedure they offer. This is fixed and provides incentives for efficiency, so if the cost is lower than the price, you can create surplus. Private hospitals can also raise funds in this way, which can remove most of the cost of negotiations with private hospitals. Instead, private hospitals can focus on other problems such as the number of procedures and quality, and provide expensive health care.

Next?

Reviewing price regulations and contract negotiations between private hospitals and private health insurers can help the private hospital division more efficiently.

Private health insurers are trying to encourage such efficiency, but the tools that have to do this through contract negotiations are quite blunt.

When we wait for the results of the personal hospital division, the value of money for taxpayers is the most important. We are all subsidized to the private hospital division.