Hospitals and Healthcare

Customers have been warned that new health insurer incentives should not come at the expense of high premiums.

We found rebates don’t do much to encourage older people to sign up for private health insurance.

The Health Department will review how common surgical products like glues and sponges are used and paid for in private hospitals. 

Despite recent reforms, it remains unaffordable and untransparent. Now some experts question whether it should be saved at all

I nearly dropped our policy until my son needed treatment for a serious mental illness which developed out of the blue.

Private health insurance premiums are set to rise again. These 14 charts (well, technically 10 charts and four tables) look at some of the reasons why health insurance premiums keep going up and up.

Consider my hypothetical patient, a healthy woman in her 20s, who has had a nasty motorbike accident. If she came off her bike on August 1, Bupa would not cover her emergency care in a public hospital. And that means the taxpayer has to pay for it instead.

Private health insurance is meant to take pressure off the public system. But with exclusionary policies, people are increasingly avoiding the levies and using the public system anyway.

Smart people are getting caught out on private health insurance — so do they need to be more savvy, or does the system need to change? 

Thinking about taking up private health insurance — or giving it up? Here are some things to consider.

Patients often want the option to be treated at home rather than being admitted to hospital. But it's much less likely to happen if you're a private patient.

When Blair Meldrum died in 2017 he left behind a loving wife and kids — and an $8,000 debt his family thought was covered by their private health insurance.

A Texas teacher, 44, faces a “balance bill” of almost twice his annual salary for a heart attack he never expected to have.

Guessing wrong on when a condition is a life-threatening medical emergency could mean a large bill. Or worse.

Private health insurance premiums will rise from April 1, leaving consumers wondering if they should give it up or downgrade to save money.

We are paying more for our health insurance because we are using it more. No crude, short-term measures to restrict premium growth will deal with this fact.