As the contract between top private health insurance (PHI) provider Bupa and major healthcare provider Ramsay Health Care ends, the insurer’s members fear they will be out of pocket if they need treatment.
In May 2022, Ramsay Health Care announced it will terminate its contract with Bupa after discussing a 7% increase in insurance premiums due to higher inflation driving up hospital costs and PHI in Australia. After months of negotiations without compromise, the contract finally expired this week, sparking concern among Bupa patients.
Sue Burrin, a Bupa member from New South Wales (NSW) who recently underwent surgery for breast cancer and is currently receiving follow-up radiation treatment at Ramsay Health Care’s John Flynn Hospital on the Gold Coast, said the contract termination “has really thrown [her] off.”
“You would think, in this day and age, you could come up with an agreement, and it obviously hasn’t happened,” she told ABC. “If I need a follow-up with my doctor or at John Flynn, I’m in a quandary as I can’t use that hospital. I have to go public at Tweed Hospital, and that’s booked up to the never never.”
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John Flynn Private Hospital chief executive Adam Stevenson said the hospital will have a two-month transition period before Bupa members are charged more. Additionally, Bupa members will be charged out of pocket at Ramsay Health Care hospitals if no agreement is reached before 90 days.
“There will be no impact for 60 days on patients, but after that, if there is no agreement, patients will begin to be charged out of pocket if they are Bupa members and needing care at our hospitals,” he told ABC.
Mark Page, chief executive of Ramsay Health Care-owned Pindara Private Hospital, added that the costs of masks, protective equipment, and nurses’ wages were skyrocketing.
“Costs have gone up significantly for hospitals over the last two-and-a-half years, and now everyone is feeling and seeing the inflation impacts on all of us,” he told ABC, adding that he hoped to see a resolution with Bupa as soon as possible.
“All this is doing by not being able to reach an agreement … it just creates worry and distress for patients,” Page said.
