Hawkesbury residents paying for private health insurance could have a stake in a renewed push for an independent national authority to improve transparency, patient value and the sustainability of Australia’s private health system.
Doctors’ representatives joined independent federal MPs Andrew Wilkie and Dr Monique Ryan at a press conference on October 12 to support stronger oversight of the sector.
The proposed authority would bring together issues affecting patients, doctors, private hospitals and insurers, amid concerns about hospital viability and whether policyholders are receiving value for their premiums.
Australian Medical Association president-elect Dr Michael Bonning said the AMA had been advocating for a private health systems authority since 2020.
He said Australia’s combination of public and private healthcare supported access and patient choice, but warned that the private system was showing signs of strain.
“What we have seen and what every doctor and patient has seen in this country is that the money that is being put into premiums but also the experience of patients is not lining up with what we would expect,” Dr Bonning said.
He argued that stronger oversight was needed to balance the interests of patients, medical practitioners, hospitals and insurers.
Australian Society of Ophthalmologists president Dr Peter Sumich also backed the proposal, saying a watchdog could improve fairness and value for people with private health insurance.
Mr Wilkie said private healthcare had become a critical part of the national system, despite his preference for universal free healthcare through a strong public system.
He pointed to private hospital closures, mergers and financial difficulties, alongside growing consumer dissatisfaction.
Mr Wilkie said he intended to bring a motion to the House of Representatives calling for a national regulator, with Dr Ryan to second it.
For Hawkesbury households, the debate raises practical questions about premiums, the procedures their policies cover and access to treatment when it is needed.
Dr Ryan said greater transparency was necessary to help Australians understand whether their insurance represented value for money.
“For many Australians, what we’ve experienced is that every year we pay more and we get less,” she said.
The press conference also addressed proposed changes to the additional private health insurance rebate for Australians aged over 65.
Mr Wilkie and Dr Ryan opposed the proposal, arguing that higher costs could lead older policyholders to reduce their cover or leave private health insurance altogether.
Dr Ryan said information released under freedom of information indicated that an estimated 44,000 older Australians could drop their cover in the first year, with the number subsequently rising to as many as 78,000.
She also said Parliamentary Budget Office costings she had obtained indicated that pensioners would bear $3 billion of the government’s forecast savings.
Those figures were presented by Dr Ryan at the press conference. The supplied transcript did not include the underlying modelling or a government response.
Dr Bonning warned that people who had maintained private health insurance for decades could face difficult choices in retirement.
He said losing cover could push more patients towards public hospital waiting lists, adding pressure to a system already managing emergency and other essential care.
The speakers called for a more coordinated approach to private healthcare, with greater scrutiny of how money moves through the system and what patients receive in return.
Their proposed authority would seek to protect patient choice while improving confidence in a system on which many Australians rely.
