A broad consultation process with all the key industry players is needed to ensure reform of the Prostheses List is robust, says Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff.
The aim should be to make the system work more effectively for patients, he said.
"We welcome the opportunity to be part of these discussions, which to date have not fully involved private hospitals, consumers or the medical profession. Considering doctors determine which prostheses they use in surgery, particularly in the private setting, it is important this anomaly is corrected.
"APHA is supportive of reform of the Prostheses List, but reform developed without consulting all stakeholders is dangerous and could have a number of unintended consequences for patients."
The Department of Health has released a circular making clear neither of the two reports released today reflect a settled position of the Government and announcing a consultation period, open until mid-February, will follow.
"Neither report released today has been able to reach definitive conclusions. Both acknowledge the significant risk of unintended consequences that could limit access to care, increase costs and cost-shift from insurers to patients. There is little gain from prostheses list changes if health insurance premium growth slows momentarily, only for out-of-pocket costs for patients to increase."
Mr Roff said reform of the Prostheses List should be used to make new technologies available to patients.
"We want to ensure sustainable access to technologies for patients without having out-of-pocket costs. Australia has a first-class health system and patients should have the benefit of first-class surgical advancements.
"We look forward to continuing our discussions with the Federal Government to find a workable solution benefiting patients, not just private health insurers," Mr Roff said.
