Why people are quitting private health insurance | 7.30 

The only reason Mark Fitzgibbon thinks his idea is viable is due to his enormous CEO salary. Deluded.

Holy cow- become like America? No way!!! That’s just horrible!!!

Pretty simple, it costs more than you get back.

My dad pays $450 a month with medicare for him and my two siblings... Yet they still turn around and say they won't cover certain things! When I left my dad's policy as an adult, they didn't reduce his price, they actually increased it.. I can afford private health insurance but I wouldn't purchase it regardless of the rebate. I don't trust the companies actually care about their customers.

My husband and I had private health insurance and when he had some procedures done we were out of pocket by thousands of dollars. Same thing happened when he needed cortisone injections for a shoulder injury and needed scans to get the right place for the injection, this time it was not not covered at all. We finally gave up because the numbers simply did not add up. When we cancelled we opened a online bank account and put our premiums in that. That was 6 years ago and EVERYTHING has been paid out of that account. We have both suffered some serious problems including heart procedures and breast cancer. The public health system care has been amazing. Yes sometimes you have to wait but if its really serious you are seen pretty quickly. We have paid taxes for over 40 years and have no qualms about using it. Private health insurance is a big rip off

It should be renamed - Private Profit Insurance

As a Kiwi who lived and studied in the US and is married to an American, I've noticed that most Americans now want a universal healthcare system similar to New Zealand, Canada or Australia. So whilst the Democrats in the States are trying to move to a Canadian or Australian style healthcare system, the Libs in Aus seem to want to move to an American style "healthcare system"? That's insane.

Good timing video, when I have been thinking of getting rid of my private health cover.....

Health insurance is a literal joke. Bigger waste of money. I have had PHI for the last five years (paying $60 a fortnight), and literally all I have used it for are glasses. You still have large out of pocket sums. Ensure that you investigate PHI well before you consider applying

Private health insurance just isn’t worth the money in Australia, my son had to have his tonsils out and we paid for it straight out of our pocket, a friends son needed the same thing with private health insurance and their out of pocket expenses were the same as what it cost us to pay for it privately without health insurance. Another time I had a tooth removed a day later a friend had a tooth removed, same dentist me no insurance and my friend with health insurance her out of pocket expenses were $10 more than it cost me without insurance.

Years ago I asked my GP if the $100 per week I paid for full cover for my family was good value........ Put your $100 dollars in the bank and you will still have it next year I was advised. Never looked back.

Well yeah, of course high-income earners want to be able to opt-out of medicare. Their private health premiums are less than their medicare levy, so they pay more. But for low income earners, private health is much more expensive than the medicare levy, so they pay less. This is literally the point of the whole system???

"I didn't insure myself for neurosurgery and then they wouldn't pay for my neurosurgery!"

Take the money you would spend on insurance and stick it in a savings account. Use that for medical expenses. You will be better off.

I opted out because it's a waste of money and complicated as hell to find out what your covered. It's similar to foxtel you get a basic package but every package has the best channels missing until you just go for platinum, you inch your way to the top cover after you keep finding out your not covered for what you need at the moment. Screw them who cares about the government loading, load me up.

Assumptions can lead to disappointments. When you take out insurance, it's important to understand what you're going to be paying for and what you'll be covered for as there's no product that covers everything. This applies not just to health insurance but to all types of insurance out there.

Woah what? A video on this channel _without_ a ton of dislikes?

"Private health insurance should be compulsory" thats what paying tax is. My dad had private and my uncle didn't and they got a very similar level of care except my dad got phone calls trying to get him to pay for the ambulance from the public to the private hospital 2 days after his surgery......He had me down as the person to call, they phoned me 3 times about it in 2 days......GTFO!

Private Healthcare is a BUSINESS just like any other business, it has a PROFIT incentive and is less concerned about your health and more concerned about the BALANCE SHEET. This is the truth of the matter, ideally the profit incentive should be removed from healthcare. Your feelings or bad health is of no relevance to an insurance company, they will dot every I, cross every t to find a way not to pay up, and its business to them, NOT personal. The public healthcare system in Australia needs improvement, we should focus on improving that and let doctors/nurses have a say on how it can improve.

Its pissing money down the drain that young people simply can't afford anymore. $200-400 a month can pay for allot of food and bills.

My uncle and his brother were members of parliament and even had ministerial rolls and he told me it is a waste of money he never had it and never would!

Giving Labor the next election

"We're like a bottled water company. We compete with this great free alternative out of the tap called Medicare." This should be the quote that buries the private health industry.

Yea, that worked SO well for Americans 🤦

Get rid of private health insurance and up medicare.

Here in NZ there's been a big push for people to pick up health insurance. Thankfully there's been resistance and the hospitals are still entirely useable. Sadly dentists have priced themselves off the planet and it's cheaper to fly to a third world country and get that done, and have change over. I don't understand that one...

Do we even need it in Australia? I was on it for a bit for contacts. It worked out so much cheaper to just buy the contacts out of pocket than than what you paid in yearly fees just to get them discounted on private health insurance. I wasn't really using it to cover any other issues since I have a pre existing illness they won't cover me medically anyway.

The number of elderly and other non-working Chinese and Indians swarming our public health facilities is frightening; that is people who may never have paid a cent in taxes... A disaster is unfolding and the sooner we acknowledge that the less shocking the reality of it will be !!!

Damn NIB lies. Never trust someone in a five thousand dollar suit when they say you should keep paying.

Considering insurance companies are constantly hiking premiums, finding any possible way to refuse paying out & putting shareholder profits before care who can blame people.

That first case is a bad example. She could have waited until the money was there if she didn´t want to borrow from her folks. Having breast implants is totally cosmetic regardless of whether or not its after a double mastectomy.

It’s a moral dilemma for me. I know if I pay for private health I will be treated quicker but someone else will wait even longer. We shouldn’t be faced with that choice we need to go back to a 1 tier system and increase public health funding!

"We are like a bottled water company" hits the nail on the head. Bottled water is essentially a giant ripoff as well....

But bottled water is not a better option? Aren't we a first world country with clean consumable tap water? Isn't plastic water bottles bad for the environment? Is this guy cooked?

If you choose the right insurance instead of just junk insurance you'll notice a big difference. Yes, I've had to pay some OOP expenses but it was more than worth it considering the protracted waiting periods imposed by the public system. Also, before anyone assumes, I'm in receipt of a part disability pension (work part time) and my partner earns a relatively low income. Private health insurance has been invaluable to us.

I've quit my health fund. the price just keeps going up. just like the cost of living.

Australia will end up having the wealthcare program

Maybe its time to have a full public funded health care system.

The blame is on Medicare rebates not increasing with CPI, technology and costs of medical costs. My gallbladder removal was deemed not an emergency under public system despite 3 admissions due to nausea vomiting in a month and nearly 10kg weight loss in approx 6wks..... I had to go private...still had to wait 2months nearly to see the surgeon.....

$55 a fortnight is so cheap? What insurance is this?

The current private Health insurance & Medicare system needs to change. Medicare should be modified to include a co payment (means tested) to cover most services, private health insurance should then be available to cover the the co payment and perhaps some of the services not covered by medicare. Some medical services like cosmetic surgery (for vanity, not health reasons) should not be covered by medicare nor private insurance. The current position where (for example you're having a baby) you are considerably out of pocket if you go private yet it is cost free to go public makes no sense at all.

Walk away from it - we are being dragged into USA style system, while many in the USA want a medicare style system. All the money being spent on private health insurance can be redirected to Public Health. Those that still want private can pay for it, but most of us expect a fair and decent Public Health System to exist. Further to that, the medical materials and drug industry is a massive Profiteering industry. Start fixing prices on drugs and materials. Capitalism needs a redress. We need to fix only 16 Corporate Charters and below that every business that is of company size, must be moved to a Co-op worker owned model, where workers own 51% of bonds and shares. The 16 Corporate Charters will allow 8 Australia Corporations and 8 Internationals that establish and Australian Sub Corporation. We establish a Public Owned Commonwealth Corporation, where every Australia owns 1 share & 1 bond. This Commonwealth Corporation will hold 20% of Shares and bonds in each Corporation and Company in Australia. It will pay a yearly dividend to every Australia as an income guarantee - so the dividend target should be about $30k per year. Treasury will also hold 20% shares and bonds in every corporation and company. We remove all taxes and replace it with an Automated Transaction Fee, set as percentage each month against Government created inflation, and a Company/Corporate Profits Tax of 20%. Financing of these Corporations and Companies will be legislated to be done via AUD. So no overseas scamming. All royalties will be paid into the same account and with the profits taxes and dividends to treasury. It will go to fund infrastructure builds, which Treasury will match dollar for dollar. The infrastructure will be for improved medium to low income rent to own housing, education, health and utilities (including roads, rail etc). We want a $50B per infrastructure funding of infrastructure for the next 50 years.

It's not like a public option is both cheaper and more efficient...

Private health insurance should cover everything, or people can choose how much they wants to be covered for. How the money is spend doesn't matter.

I had private health insurance for 3 years but honestly the amount of money I was paying per year it was ridiculous. Every time I went to claim on my top hospital and extras cover for myself it either cost a fortune in out of pocket or wasn't covered based on the obscure rules. Twice I was provided false and misleading information from Transport Health insurance and I challenged them for denying my claims but they were accepted on appeal. I spent a bit of time in hospital over the three years and I never felt that the money I spent was worth the minor difference between a public hospital and a private one. In reality if something is wrong and it's an emergency the public hospital will treat you just the same as the private one but only the private one will sting you over $300 for the privilege of using their ED.

We Aussies are so poor we can no longer afford private health care insurance , The Lucky Country ? I think not !

Sickening… why should we pay ANY gap!!!!

Insurance companies are no longer insurance you are paying directly for your costs call it gap or excess or any other name you like

Mr Fitzy, taxation is not a funding mechanism. If Government doesn't create AUDs, we won't have anything to pay back in taxes. Government should be able to pay for everything through Medicare. We in fact don't need private insurance.

take the money you were going to put into health insurance and just leave it aside, when something bad happens just use the cash, medicare can reimburse alot of things.

The ponzi biting the dust!

This is a perfect video to argue in favour of Medicare. Private health insurance has become unaffordable, coverage in policies are continuously eroded year on year and it helps fund massive ceo salaries. No more propping up of private health - use that money for Medicare! I dunno…maybe start part paying for dentistry!!!

so its a cosmetic surgery after an essential surgery...which is optional...

Of course you have to specify things like neurosurgery on the cover. That’s why you chose different levels of cover

lucky country rich country and you have to pay to be looked after stupid anyone that got private healthcare should stop and lets all protest and put in government that's elected by US to look after US

I wish the government would quit private health insurance. Health care is a human right

If she was in the US it would have been 150k

Yeah wth, obvious conflict of interest.

Bottle water doesn't contain fluoride so it isn't better than tap water

Absolutely a waste of money.

This is the Austrian/Libertarian Neoliberal system of the future. It started in the days of Fraser and Hawke pushed into Australia by the plutocrats after the 1975 Whitlam coup. Ever heard of the Lima Declaration used to offshore jobs for the profits of the corporations? And Superannuation and Health Insurance have been introduced along the way to slowly dilute social security so taxes can be reduced for the wealthy. So far it has worked well; just take a look at the growing wealth and income inequality. Many have accepted the compulsory superannuation, but now some are starting to question this Libertarian system when it comes to healthcare. Don't think of these Austrian/Libertarians as a fringe group with radical ideas about pushing wealth and power to the top by reducing taxes, removing regulations, and privatizing for profit; this is a global network of plutocrats and politicians working to implement a system of eugenic policies along the lines of the famous Thatcher quote, "There is no such thing as society". Just take a look at the "Washington Consensus" or Austerity by another name if you want to see what's in your future. The RBA is cutting rates in a vain attempt to stop the impending economic downturn heading for Australian shores and as the Australian economy falters, this will be the eventual excuse of Australia's creditors to implement the remaining Washington Consensus strategy. Sorry folks, but full implementation of the U.S. Neoliberal Austrian/Libertarian system is just around the corner. The Public Health system is also a threat to the profits of the plutocrats and their corporations and it is has been targeted for dismantling just like the NHS in Britain. Tony Abbott has shown this can’t be done rapidly without significant political dissent so the plutocrats are now using the old “Boiling Frog” technique to eliminate this threat to the expanding greed of the plutocrats. These tactics to grow the wealth gap and enrich the plutocrats have been imported into Australia courtesy of such Libertarian institutions as the "Institute of Public Affairs" and the "Center for Independent Studies"; and thanks to the Washington puppets in Canberra, are here to stay. And you thought Australia was a democracy?

NIB - the worst insurance provider in the world. Look at their Productreview feedback!

Mark might just not be telling the whole ...

Fitzgibbon - just look at him. Lying through his teeth.

This is some great cherry-picking by the ABC. The program wouldn´t end if they did stories on the nightmares that happen in the public health system. That said, Australia has one of the best healthcare systems in the world compared to many other nations, and one of the best countries for quality of life but all Australian media does is complain about how bad they have it. If you live in Australia you should feel privileged or if not come live overseas and see what real problems are like.

I wouldn’t bother with ‘Hospital’. It’s very expensive, and you have a right to it all on the public system anyway. I get ‘Extras’ though, as I make extensive use of it for allied health, i.e. glasses, dentistry, physiotherapy, osteopathy, etc. It pushes you to be pro-active about your health.

Why pay for something that's free 🤔

There is a large population of baby boomers in which it is coming more expensive, so hence the numbers leaving private health insurance. NIB Director "it's not about what you put in versus what you and get out" I'm sorry but your wrong ,that's what it is exactly about.

People can't afford it.

I’ll take the FREE TAP WATER

I've been a member of a private health fund for many years (since soon after the birth of my children ... who are today 20 and 18 years old, respectively. I have always been perfectly happy with the service and cover I receive from my insurer. Sure, I have probably paid in more than I have claimed, but when I have claimed (for example, for shoulder reconstruction) I paid very little out of pocket. I am more than happy to support the private health insurance industry in the knowledge that I am doing my part to not be dependent on the state for my health care needs.

Tap water is better than bottled TAP WATER .INSURANCE IS A RIP OFF

when i see the NIB managing director, not sure why i feel like seeing a devil.

It is just me or does Mark Fitzgibbon seem extremely creepy and slimy. If he walked into a room I’d wanna find the exit

Public system works pretty well. The more people use it the better it will get. How stupid do you think people are? HANDS OFF OUR MEDICARE!

Medicare was a good til Howard ...

Hospitals are a business

Everyone just get the cover Mark Fitzy has. That should cover every single diecese God has created. Except greed ...

Well... that insurance dude was a bit of a snake!

When nurses stopped being nurses to become psuedo doctors and assistant nurses took on the bulk of inpatient nursing care, affordable health care became impossible..

Man can't lose those slush funds 😂😅😬

Another check for Liberal party :P

If the liberals remove medicare i will put on a yellow vest

All insurance is a form of gambling Health House Car Roll the dice see what comes up

4:05 - Privatize the ABC, not Healthcare. :P Airtime/free advertising should not be given to NIB.

We ate not quiteing you did plants have pick up on people's ind or webuy are onw like l do.We are not commie like you guys are.

If the medicare levy on your tax was not set to 2%, but at the correct % of what it costs. Then every worker in Australia would be screaming at the Government.

Australian govt must get out of healthcare and let private health care take care of citizens. Whatever govt touches, it becomes expensive and people misuse it.