Your Taxes are Paying the Bills of Big Private Health Insurers

By The Hon. Chris Minns MP

23 October 2024

The big four private healthcare insurers have stopped paying their bills for services they use in NSW Hospitals.

In 2019, private healthcare insurance companies wrote to the previous Liberal Government and said that they would stop paying the rate to use beds in our public hospitals.

As a result of that, the people of NSW are losing $140 million a year.

That is enough for 1,000 additional nurses, 100 extra hospital beds or more funding to support our emergency departments.

That is why I am introducing a new law to ensure that all private health providers pay the appropriate bed rate.

For too long, many health insurers have not been paying the full amount.

My Government’s new law will ensure that private health insurers pay their fair share of their use of public hospital beds.

I am only asking for fairness and equality – for these companies to pay the correct rate for using our beds.

Every day they do not, it costs our state and you the taxpayer over $338,000 – every single day.

In the last five years $86 million was taken from our local hospitals in the Kogarah electorate alone.

Private health insurance profits have more than doubled with record bonuses paid to executives while premiums returned to their customers have steadily declined.

As Premier of NSW, I am committed to ensuring these private health insurers pay their fair share.

When they do not pay their bills, our local hospitals miss out.