After 3 years in a row of applying for and getting approval to increase health insurance costs from da gummints, the industry has applied again to increase those costs to you and me the consumers.
The last increase was 6.18% in May.
Enjoy being gouged!
source links to the news would be good….
Yes they apply every year and every year the Government says yes.
FYI though, the Government is undertaking a review of the private health system and is asking the public for their views on it.
So if you have something to say, tell someone who can do something about it:
http://health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ph…
Look at the root cause of why premiums are increasing. It is due to the ever increasing fees charged by medical practitioners. A detailed review needs to be undertaken on how much doctors charge. As consumers, we should also shop around. I dont feel bad asking for discounts if i feel a medical charge is too high.
Yeah, it's got absolutely nothing to do with selling Medibank and making it more valuable.
Look over there at all the nasty doctors!
Look at any health insurer, they all operate on single digit margins. Compare that to private hospitals who operate on double digit profit margins. 90c in every dollar of premiums are paid out as claims.
And that has diddly to do with making Medibank worth more for its float.
Doctors/Hospitals can charge more cause people will pay more, they'll pay more cause their Private Health will pay more and the Private Health will pay more cause they can charge more and they can charge more because….
If the regulator said "no more increases", guess what happens further up the chain?
There will be a lag, where providers charge more, but then get less business, so they will lower their prices to market value to win market share. But when the market value keeps getting inflated, then it's a vicious circle.
Dont know why you keep talking about Medibank - its not the only listed health insurer. I guess the government felt that the market could run a more efficient operation that a Government Business Entity.
Agree re your later sentiments though that it is a viscous cycle and something needs to be done.
@rxjb:
The government has recently floated the company.
The government wanted the company to be as financially healthy as possible prior to the float so as to maximise its value.
The government has a lot of influence over the regulator, so pushed hard for the regulator to allow big increases in premiums, so that Medibank would have more money flowing in and therefore look more financially healthy.
The government sells the company, crows about how great they are cause they sold something that we already owned and is quite happy for everyone to point blame at the medicos for pushing up Heathcare prices while they rub their fingerprints off the regulator.
I've quit my cover. I'm fit, I don't smoke and drink much, I'm sick of subsidizing someone else's high cost.
We have an aging population never seen at this volume in Australias history.
We have obesity records across the country.
Cigarettes and alcohol are legal drugs.
Carbon spewing into the bodies of all bio-matter alive.
Kids are being born allergic to so much compared to 20 yrs ago.
Cancer is forever growing.
If its that bothersome, I can fix it for you all…
You pay for it anyway and if insurance companies had no one to insure, prices would have to drop to get people back!
Think of it like petrol, if no one drove because prices went to $20/Ltr overnight, how long would it take the greedy f&$k3rs to lower the cost.
Yep, worth watching the documentary Sicko.
Includes a portion of the "Nixon tapes" where the health insurance scam is explained to him.
Amazingly, when Little Johnny stuck that old pig in a mini-skirt, heels and lipstick, the suckers lined up.
It's a license to print money, thanks little Johnny, you're the best PM ever!