I can appreciate that the government might not be doing all they can and also that the health funds chasing higher profits and that seems to include the not for profit funds whose charges are similar to for profit funds, but what I can't understand how a dentist or any other health professionals can charge patients a different amount depending on if they are in a fund or not, that seems to be price gouging the health funds, Inwould have that that was illegal and could possibly contribute to the constant increases. I had a heart attack about 3 years ago, when I was getting booked in the receptionist asked for my health fund details, this was after I had been attended to and was placed on the ward, I told her to book me in as a public patient, when she asked why I explained that as a private patient I would have to pay the first $500 which is my excess, the receptionist or whatever her title was told me not to worry about the excess the hospital would cover that, so I agreed, in the past the public hospital would have had to cover that, I guess it depends on the reasons people take out private health cover, I took it out so if I needed treatment I wouldn't have to go on a waiting list and I think before Medicare I used to get a few bob back when I went to the doctors.

 I had a similar experiemnce when the ambulance took my mother to the hospital.....

for eight hours my mother lay on a stretcher in thehospital whilst I was given a stool to sit on..

After that some clerk came and told me would Ii like to give the hospital private health fund detail as she was there over 8 hours and they could claim on it.

I asked would it facilitate my mother's treatment so that she could be put into a more comfortable bed,

The clerk responded NO , so I responded NO too

After a couple of hours later she was admitted.

I agree Australians are better off having money put aside and paying cash for surgeries that are urgent. I have known a couple of people that have done that. They would not have been alive now if they never did that.

I have to admit that I thought the same, but the not for profit health funds are no better, I had been a member of the NIB for about 35 years then joined  Bupa where I was getting a better deal, I stayed with them for about 4 years then went to peoplecare, I am on one of their older policies that is a lot cheaper but covers far less, I have been on comparison sites which include both for profit and not for profit funds, in all honesty I can see very little difference between them, I suppose the devil is in the detail.

Last post should be $5.000 to $10,000 costs

After many decades of paying ever increasing costs for back-then Top Hospital/Health Insurance - dropped it when told that I was now on "Silver+" cover & premiums still increased. Knowing that a few of my also OAP retired friends had discontinued their Private Health Insurance & were happily receiving their various necessary treatments @ Public Hospitals including, sadly, a couple of different advanced cancers as are still, alive & happy; a couple of back & knee operations; one had to have necessary cataract ops far from home (just over the Border, long waiting list @ most Public Hospitals closer) however that wasn't a problem as was suggested by his Specialist who was willing to travel - it was a no-brainer for me as hadn't accessed/made any claim on that Private Health Insurance for 10+yrs. Knowing all above, decided to sell my Medibank Shares asap & it's price hasn't been quite so high since, got top $ as so very many OAPs over 70+ are dropping theirs (too expensive on OAP + minimal interest on savings/"Super" eventually has to be accessed, depleted) & our children can't afford it as have high mortgages & bug*er all pay increases to cover ever increasing utility bills. Was more than surprised when contacted soon after, via e-mail, by my ex-Health Insurance Fund offering me one mth free if I "came back" - ignored it. I would have had an extra approx $16,000 cash if discontinued my Health Insurance 10yrs ago. When my beloved hubby battled cancer for 9yrs prior to all above, it cost us a fortune re all the extras/add-ons etc etc + the continued ever-increasing insurance premiums. He eventually decided to stop "admitting" (even tho' some of his Specialists knew) that we had Top Private Health Insurance & was still promptly treated re ops/many regular tests, scans including very expensive PET scans in a Public Hospital close to home. How could any fwd thinking/caring Gov'mt not prepare for we "baby-boomers," a significant % of our population, needing medical/surgical procedures as we age by either building more Public Hosps or greatly expanding all existing ones? It's simple, they don't care - even tho' we do still pay taxes, 10% GST on almost everything, including necessities. After many decades of working our butts off, paying taxes (+ very high mortgage interest rates) - we're now apparently a "burden" on the economy even tho' most pt/time & casual workers received no Superannuation 'til well in our 40s (mostly women) & our hubby's only received (not exactly sure, think it started @ ard 2%) minimal Super for many yrs - now saving 'em heaps by happily minding our grandkids so both parents can work f/time, pay their taxes & able to afford their high mortgage payments. Stupidity @ it's worst, especially expecting ppl to continue working 'til 70 - does that cancel out the many $1,000s our generation is saving 'em by minding our grandkids, both parents paying taxes + saving 'em heaps of childcare subsidies?