Australian households spend as much as $400 a month on private health insurance compared with consumers in the UK and New Zealand.
According to the Sydney Morning Frontier, the private health insurance industry blamed a range of factors, such as high-cost medical equipment such as pacemakers and hip arthroplasty, as well as public health care systems, for a range of factors, such as high-cost medical equipment such as pacemakers and hip replacement, compared with other countries.
An international comparison of insurance costs confirms that Australia is one of the world`s most expensive countries for private health insurance.
According to online quotations, Bupa, the UK-based company, charges just $170 a month for the highest-risk (Top Cover) for families with two adults and two children.
In Australia, Bupa charges $588 a month for the same insurance as the same family.
Both the UK and Australia spend about 9% of gross national product (GDP) on health.
A New Zealand family looking for the most fully insured (Top Cover) is expected to pay $300 less a month than Australian families and nearly $175 less in Ireland than in Australia.
In a bipartisan priority document submitted after the election, Bupa said that the cost of purchasing a standard ceramic hip joint at the Prince of Wales Public Hospital in Sydney, (Prince of Wales public hospital), was 4900 yuan, but in a private hospital next door. But the patient is charged 11,000 yuan.
An Bupa spokesman said the aging population and rising prices for equipment and implant materials have pushed up medical costs.
