17 October 2016 - The billion-dollar trend of public hospitals billing health insurers for the cost of treating members — who as taxpayers would otherwise not be charged — is under review.

State governments have been encouraging public hospitals to identify patients with insurance and convince them to bill their health fund, to the point where hospitals now cover the excess and, in some cases, offer free meals and parking to family members.

The Australian revealed last month that Health Minister Sussan Ley was under increasing pressure to intervene in the $1 billion cost-shifting dispute, which ­Private Healthcare Australia and the Australian Private Hospitals Association argue pushes up premiums.

Read The Australian article