The federal government’s insurance survey is unscientific, misleading and populist The Federal government is under fire for launching an “unscientific survey with misleading questions” to underpin their Private Health Insurance review, in place of proper expert consultation and policy. Changes to private health insurance were flagged in an online public consultation survey launched by the […]
The federal government’s insurance survey is unscientific, misleading and populist
The Federal government is under fire for launching an “unscientific survey with misleading questions” to underpin their Private Health Insurance review, in place of proper expert consultation and policy.
Changes to private health insurance were flagged in an online public consultation survey launched by the government last week, alongside a report showing half a million Australians had downgraded their private health cover last year, with record numbers moving to cheaper cover with exclusions and excesses.
Survey respondents were asked whether premiums should differ for smokers, older people, by gender or for those at higher health risk, prompting fears the government was considering introducing risk rating for health insurance, not currently permitted in Australia.
A number of the survey questions were “clearly leading questions”, said AMA President, Associate Professor Brian Owler.
“It’s not going to be a surprise if most people say they want to pay lower premiums for being non-smokers,” Professor Owler said.
“The survey is completely unscientific, and at the end of the day [these issues] are not about just popularism,” he told The Medical Republic.
The government’s job is to make sure they protect everyone and that they have the big picture in mind
“The government’s job is to make sure they protect everyone and that they have the big picture in mind”. “I think that’s the sort of policy development that needs to be happening, not developing policy on the basis of a public push poll that has already got a very clear and expected outcome, ” he said.
“Just like in the US, you can end up being deemed too high risk, or your premiums end up being so high that you can’t afford private health insurance, and all of those people are tipped out into the public hospital system…which is already under enormous stress”
Introducing risk rating would jeopardise universal healthcare and undermine the private health insurance system that would in turn put pressure on the public system, Professor Owler said.
Furthermore, it “makes no sense at all” to be suggesting that differential pricing will ultimately cost the government less money, he said.
Both Labor and Greens MPs have echoed concerns that charging different premiums for smokers and others at higher risk will open Australia up to a healthcare system like that in the US or the UK.
Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King called it a “ridiculous survey” that has used the emotive topic of smoking to present it to the public.
“When you start to say that these people should pay more, where do you stop?”
The review is part of a multi-armed crackdown on government health spending, with the Federal Government estimating that the private health Insurance rebate cost $6 billion last financial year.
If the government was serious about reducing premiums, they should rethink paying the rebate for unproven alternative therapies, Professor Owler said.
Professor Owler accused Ms Ley of “taking up the call” of private health insurers to help their bottom lines, describing the survey as an “incredble waste of money”.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Sussan Ley denied the survey was a waste of money, and said any changes to lifetime ratings would not apply to existing policy-holders.
The option to charge smokers more for insurance is under consideration but would only apply to the younger generation, because older Australians were not aware of the health risks when they took up the habit.
The survey also included questions on whether private insurers should be allowed to cover GP visits, pathology tests and diagnostic imaging.
Should this be allowed, public health experts are concerned that allowing private insurers to cover GP visits would lead to more GPs forgoing bulk billing.
To see the survey, http://bit.ly/1PvTwmo
