You think Health Insurance is Expensive Now?

[badgambler]

At present most private hospital admissions are to well established "vocational type" hospitals. (Think of the Bon Secours)

These establishments do not need to cover the cost of land and buildings, but cover all their current costs and generate a small profit.

Now move forward a few years when all the new hospitals will be built under the co-location scheme. New hospital owners will have to:

Cover the exhorbitant cost of purchasing sites from the Govt
Cover the cost of building (at todays prices)
Cover the opportunity cost of the Capital Invested
Cover the premium attached to attracting highly demanded staff in an already tight labour market

Couple this with the fact that private patients will no longer be treated in public hospitals under Govt policy.

This will be the new reality

Now I don't mean to belittle the current RE, Bupa et all debate. But the fact of the matter is that huge increases face us all as a direct result of Government policy. Sure there will be medical inflation and ageing population forces in play when pricing is reviewed, but not the main issue.

 

[shnaek]

The one thing we could do as a population is band together and not pay health insurance. Then we'd see the government move fairly fast on health issues.