Bupa welcomes Federal Budget announcements that establish a reform pathway for private health

Australia has one of the best health systems in the world, underpinned by our mixed private and public system.

With household and government budgets under unprecedented pressure, and public hospital wait lists set to blow-out as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, affordable private health care has never been more important.

We look forward to working with the Government on a number of announcements from the Budget; initiatives designed to help attract young people to health insurance and to provide greater flexibility on what insurers can cover for treatment out of hospital. These are welcome steps in the right direction to address some key issues facing customers and our industry.

Bupa understands the cost of living pressures our customers are experiencing and appreciate the commitment for further reforms to address affordability. We do not want health insurance premiums to cost one dollar more than necessary. But the reality is, premiums are driven directly by increasing costs in the health sector – partly driven by our ageing population and medical advances, but also by waste, avoidable costs, and the fact that some players in the sector are more willing to lean into the affordability challenge than others.

The only way we can bring increases in premiums down and deliver value to our customers is through genuine reform that takes out cost for customers and keeps health insurance accessible for young people. We look forward to working closely with the Government over the coming eight months on the reform program and new initiatives.

Media reference number: 20/096