Published 05 November 2015 by Esther Lim
Private health insurance consultations
Australia has a mixed public and private model of health care funding and service delivery. Private health insurance offers members greater choice in the provision of treatment, coverage for some services not included under Medicare arrangements, and may offer shorter waiting times for some services. You can find out more about private health insurance in Australia here.
Currently, the Australian Government is undertaking a number of reviews aimed at ensuring that consumers can access affordable, quality and timely health services into the future. Private health insurance has important links to these reviews.
On 28 October 2015, the Minister for Health, the Hon Sussan Ley MP, announced consultations focused on the value of private health insurance for consumers and its long term sustainability. The potential benefit to consumers is the key consideration of these consultations.
Consultation process
Will consumers be able to contribute to the conversation?
An online survey for consumers will be available shortly. The aim of the survey is to give consumers the opportunity to share their views on private health insurance.
The survey will be open from mid-November to mid-December 2015. Once the survey is open, you will be able to access it via the Department of Health's website.
The Department of Health will also conduct a series of targeted industry roundtables to identify:
opportunities to amend unncessary or inefficient regulation which add costs for consumers
reform options which would enhance the value of private health insurance for consumers.
Timeline
The dates for the consultations are:
- 28 October 2015 - Minister Ley announces private health insurance consultations
- Mid-November 2015 - Online consumer survey opens
- Mid-November 2015 - Targeted industry roundtables
- Mid-December 2015 - Online consumer survey closes
For further details about the review and consultation process, please visit www.health.gov.au.
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