Bupa has entered a two-year partnership with Catholic healthcare services provider St John of God Health Care (St John of God).
The partnership aims to help limit out-of-pocket costs for patients and support local regional communities.
Bupa health insurance managing director Chris Carroll said the partnership reflects how insurers and hospitals could work together to keep private health care affordable with a patient-first mindset, noting that the deal provided the insurer with one of the largest hospital networks of any major health fund in Australia.
“Our partnership with St John of God Health Care aims to provide our regional members with peace of mind that they can receive high value care close to their home and in their communities,” Carroll said.
The deal comes as Australians face high cost-of-living costs and a health insurance spike.
St John of God Health Care group CEO Bryan Pyne said local communities will significantly benefit from the partnership.
“As a not-for-profit hospital provider, we seek partnerships that help us ensure all the communities we serve have access to high quality, compassionate, and patient centred private health care,” Pyne said. “Our partnership with Bupa helps provide our patients access to local doctors and surgeons at their choice of hospital.
“In areas like Geelong, where we have provided a maternity service for many years and is now experiencing a baby boom, we think it's important that parents continue to have options to have their babies in a private hospital closer to home, which can reduce travel time and helps reduce some of the stress that comes with parenthood.”
Carroll said: “We know how loyal regional and suburban communities are to their local hospitals, and we're thrilled this partnership helps limit out-of-pocket costs for our members at a leading health care provider. Partnerships with our private hospitals helps reduce out of pocket costs, support our world-leading mixed health system and helps take pressure off our public hospitals and their waiting lists.”
Bupa, one of the top 10 private health insurance companies in Australia this year, also recently committed to supporting First Nations people's health by launching a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).
