Health Plan Payment in Australia

The Australian healthcare system is characterized by a mix of public and private financing and provision of healthcare services. The health insurance system consists of a National Health Insurance/Service and voluntary private health insurance (PHI). The latter is regulated through the Private Insurance Act (2007) which established a complex mix of subsidies and regulatory instruments (e.g., community rating, open enrollment, ad valorem premium-subsidies and tax-incentives), and provides for the operation and administration of the Risk Equalization Trust Fund. The Australian health plan payment scheme constitutes a combination of risk sharing and risk equalization. The duplicative nature of the current private/public mix (those with PHI remain covered by the national public system) and the potentially inefficient mix of subsidies have contributed to some important issues such as overinsurance, a high market concentration, risk selection, market segmentation, and a misallocation of subsidies. Increasingly, concerns are rising about the affordability, efficiency, and sustainability of the Australian healthcare system.