19 August 2019 - NIB boss Mark Fitzgibbon has hit out at "ideological" rules from the "left of politics" that prevent health insurers from funding out-of-hospital care, as the company looks for ways to reduce costs amid growing affordability concerns.

One reform that he said would reduce costs would be to allow customers to use their hospital cover outside of hospitals – for example, in a doctor's surgery or in the patient's home. Mr Fitzgibbon said ideology was preventing this from happening.

"It's preposterous that the same doctor NIB paid for when she operated on you in hospital, we can't pay for her when you meet her in her Macquarie Street or Collins Street surgery," he said.

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