18 November 2016 - Reports from government, consumer groups and health bodies depict an unsustainable system. Possible solutions include phasing out private insurance or establishing a single insurer.

Private health insurance is broken and should be scrapped in its current form and replaced by a single health insurer according to health economists and policy experts who have spoken to Guardian Australia.

This drastic assessment has been prompted by numerous reports from government, consumer groups and peak health bodies over the past six months.

All found private health insurance is increasingly unaffordable due to rising premiums, prompting people to drop their level of cover to policies that are virtually useless for their healthcare but allow the customer to avoid government surcharges.

Read The Guardian article