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Call for action on hospital access
AMA Victoria President, Mukesh Haikerwal, and Executive Director of the Council on the Ageing Australia, Denys Correll, today called on the new Minister for Health, Kay Patterson, and private hospitals and health insurers to ensure equity of access to beds for privately insured patients.
"The Minister for Health is able, through current legislation, to direct health insurers not to discriminate against certain patients, and I think inadequate payment to hospitals for certain patients amounts to discrimination," Dr Haikerwal said.
"We have sent Senator Patterson the results of our survey of members on private hospital access, for her to consider action to rectify the situation and level the playing field for our patients."
"We have asked her to: require private hospitals to make admission policies publicly available; require health funds to give the Minister for Health contracts they have negotiated with private hospitals; direct health funds to renegotiate unfair contracts; and develop guidance for the private sector on the best way to care for older patients in the private system.
"Most people with private health insurance expect to get a private hospital bed when they need it. They are not being told by health insurance funds that they are more likely to get a bed if they are a quick throughput surgery patient rather than an elderly medical patient – which is the current situation."
Mr Correll said COTA members saw access to health care as one of the most important issues facing them.
"The average age of our members is 70 and more than half of them have private health insurance. When we’ve surveyed them on the issues of most importance to them, access to health care comes out as the top concern," Mr Correll said.
"After talking to our members around Australia, this situation does not seem to be isolated to Victoria."
Dr Haikerwal said the blame shifting between private hospitals and health insurers had to stop.
"We are tired of the buck-passing that goes on between private hospitals and private health insurers regarding older patients and those with established ongoing illnesses. There should be greater public transparency of agreements between hospitals and health insurers, in the same way as there is for gap-cover agreements between doctors and health insurers.
Dr Haikerwal said private hospitals should also be up-front about their admission policies, and called on the industry to make them publicly available.
"Admission policies differ from hospital to hospital, and it would be a help to know how may beds are available for certain types of conditions when trying to get a patient into hospital.
"I have seen minutes from a meeting of a large private hospital in which a senior executive clearly states that as it is a for-profit organisation, long-term medical patients are a disadvantage as health funds do not adequately support the costs associated with a lengthy hospital admission.
"AMA Victoria supports private health insurance and the delivery of private health care. People who take out private health insurance have a right to equal access to private hospital beds, whatever illness strikes them down and regardless of their age," Dr Haikerwal said.
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