30 November 2019 - The former chief executive of Australia's second largest private hospital operator has backed health insurers' claims they are being gouged by medical device manufacturers, saying the country is referred to as a "treasure island" for the industry.

Robert Cooke, who has 40 years of experience in the health industry including six as chief executive of hospital group Healthscope, said it was clear Australia "pays too much" for prostheses, which range from replacement hips through to medical sponges.

Australia's private health insurers have been pushing federal Health Minister Greg Hunt to overhaul the government's "prostheses list", which mandates how much they pay for more than 10,000 prosthetic and implanted medical devices.

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