8 November 2016 - A top consultant to the federal government on health reform, former competition boss Graeme Samuel, has strengthened his call for deep cuts to government-­controlled price-fixing for hips, knees and other device implants.

Calling recent recommendations by Health Minister Sussan Ley to cut the prices for private patients by 10 per cent for a range of medical implants “just the tip of the iceberg”, Mr Samuel called for far more substantial cuts.

Mr Samuel took aim at controls by government mandate, which keep prices for implants for private patients up to five times higher than the amount paid by public patients, as well as against international benchmarks. He said that pricing should be left to market forces.

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