Private Healthcare Australia (PHA)

Health funds have welcomed a legislative change today that will allow rebates to be paid for a range of natural therapies clinical treatments.

Health insurers are delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in additional payments to private hospitals to help them through a challenging period of rising costs and a shift towards more technology driven out-of-hospital care.

The rising cost to see some specialist doctors in the community, such as psychiatrists, obstetricians and cardiologists, is decimating demand for private hospitals and undermining the value of health insurance for 15 million Australians.

Medicare data shows the number of Australians consulting medical specialists in the community has fallen 10% over the past five years as some doctors charge more than $900 for a first appointment.

More health fund members will be able to access funded group exercise from April 1 thanks to a change to the schedule of services provided by accredited exercise physiologists.

Private health insurers paid private hospitals a record $12.3 billion for Australians’ health care in the year to March, data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show.