Health care giants settle fee dispute
Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor |
Health insurer, Bupa, and private hospital company, Ramsay Health Care, have settled a long-running dispute over medical costs.
Both companies announced an in-principle agreement late on Friday, after months of sometimes rancorous disagreement.
Agreements between insurers and health providers are renegotiated regularly to take account of rising costs.
Bupa and Ramsay had been unable to reach agreement, raising the possibility Bupa clients would face extra out-of-pocket costs at Ramsay facilities.
Ramsay Health Care is Australia’s largest operator of private hospitals and day surgery units, with 72 across the nation and 18 in Queensland. A consortium led by KKR & Co has launched a A$20.1 billion takeover bid.
Bupa is a global health insurance and healthcare group, headquartered in the United Kingdom, with more than 38 million customers worldwide, four million in Australia.
Ramsay had accused Bupa of ignoring rising costs in the hospital sector, while the insurer hit back with claims Ramsay was trying to increase the value of its business during a private equity backed takeover offer.
At one point, Ramsay suggested Bupa customers should consider switching insurance providers.
The two companies say an they’ve reached in-principle agreement on the key terms of a new three-year Hospital Purchaser Provider Agreement (HPPA).
They say the key terms will be finalised in the next two weeks, with the new agreement due to commence before current transitional arrangements end on October 1.
