More than one million Australians will soon not be covered when visiting 42 private hospitals due to a bitter dispute with the network’s owners.
The proposed agreement between six members of the Australian Health Services Alliance (AHSA) – including Australian Unity and Teachers Health Fund – and Healthscope fell apart on April 23 with a war of words erupting between the two sides on Monday.
The six affected AHSA members are:
- Australian Unity
- Teachers Health Fund
- CUA Health
- Reserve Bank Health Society
- CBHS Corporate Health
- CBHS Health Fund.
The dissolution means those covered by the above providers, who had not previously pre-booked, will be unable to access treatment at Healthscope hospitals without incurring out-of-pocket costs after June 8.
Emergency hospital admissions will continue until September 7.
Healthscope pulled out of negotiations after it said an agreement couldn’t be reached on the rate offered to them by the health funds.
But the Teachers Health Fund, which represents more than 160,000 teachers and their families, argued it was Healthscope being unreasonable by charging “additional fees” for industry-minimum standards.
The counter narratives sparked a public spat with Teachers Health Fund chief executive Brad Joyce calling the private hospital operator “irresponsible and unconscionable”.
“This opportunistic and exploitative behaviour demonstrates the lack of competition faced by Healthscope and its ability to make take-it-or-leave-it offers to health funds,” he said on Monday.
“It unfairly targets teachers who are already facing personal and professional challenges during COVID-19.
“Considering the current climate, supporting the physical and mental health needs of our teachers should not be used as a bargaining tool.”
But Healthscope said it was very disappointed with the “public commentary” and mis-characterisation of good-faith negotiations.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” a spokesperson told The New Daily.
“Unfortunately, the rate offered for this two-year agreement was simply not enough to allow our hospitals to meet their costs, such as paying the salaries of our nursing and other hospital staff, which was not something we could accept.
“It was also significantly out of step with what other health insurers pay.”
Healthscope Hospitals
Australian Capital Territory
National Capital Private Hospital
New South Wales
Campbelltown Private Hospital
Hunter Valley Private Hospital
Lady Davidson Private Hospital
Mosman Private Hospital
Nepean Private Hospital
Newcastle Private Hospital
Northern Beaches Hospital
Norwest Private Hospital
Prince of Wales Private Hospital
Sydney Southwest Private Hospital
The Hills Private Hospital
The Sydney Clinic
Tweed Day Surgery
Northern Territory
Darwin Private Hospital
Queensland
Brisbane Private Hospital
Gold Coast Private Hospital
Pacific Private Hospital
Peninsula Private Hospital
Pine Rivers Private Hospital
Sunnybank Private Hospital
South Australia
Ashford Hospital
Flinders Private Hospital
Griffith Rehabilitation Hospital
Parkwynd Private Hospital
The Memorial Hospital
Tasmania
Hobart Private Hospital
St Helen’s Private Hospital
Victoria
Bellbird Private Hospital
Dorset Rehabilitation Centre
Frankston Private Hospital
Holmesglen Private Hospital
John Fawkner Private Hospital
La Trobe Private Hospital
Knox Private Hospital
Melbourne Private Hospital
North Eastern Rehabilitation Centre
Northpark Private Hospital
Ringwood Private Hospital
The Geelong Clinic
The Melbourne Clinic
The Victoria Clinic
The Victorian Rehabilitation Centre
Western Australia
Mount Hospital
