Australian Private Hospital Association 40th National Congress

At the Australian Private Hospital Association 40th National Congress held in Sydney from March 26-28 the AMA was involved in a key discussion topic on the evolution of new funding models. A panel covering the views of medical practitioners, consumers, private health insurers and health economists discussed the issue of private health funding looking at insurance and alternative funding models and how they are evolving in our health system today.

The panels focused on where new funding models are heading and looked at the role of private health insurers into the future. Each member of the panel spoke about the widespread sense that the current models are broken and where we might start to address this problem.

The AMA’s General Manager for Advocacy, Luke Toy, spoke about how the private system – from hospitals, to insurers, to device manufacturers, to doctors and patients all agree on the need for reform. However, it will be key to realise this goal in a way that also ensures adequate patient protections are in place, clinical autonomy is maintained, and coverage isn’t limited to specific insurers or geographic locations.

A key message from the AMA was the need for an enhanced focus on the ‘deliberate design’ of these new models of care and associated funding. Reform of the private health system needs to be underpinned by quality evidence and dedicated expertise but must also involve government as the regulator of the ‘public policy’. The AMA has called for this to be done through the establishment of a Private Health System Authority – an expert body that would be best placed to work with the sector to design new funding models and do so without leading to a loss in clinical autonomy or patient choice.