Mind the gap: Aussies delay elective surgery over gap costs

A tough economic environment for Australian consumers has produced a perversely beneficial tailwind for ASX-listed health insurers Medibank and NIB.

Out of pocket surgery costs have driven many private health insurance members to delay elective surgery.The good news for Medibank and NIB is that they are not paying out as much for these kinds of procedures as they have budgeted for. And it has helped drive the profit margins of the two health insurers to record highs in the December half year.

One health fund member with a recent experience with elective surgery described the view from the other side of this double-edged sword. She is one of many patients looking at the rising out-of-pocket costs for surgery and questioning the need for private health insurance. Fitzgibbon's golfing buddy used his health insurer to find a new surgeon and is finally getting the surgery done.

The hike in the excess that will have to be paid for each person in the insurance policy when they are treated in hospital or surgeon's rooms 'hospital' even for day procedures will deter many from seeking timely treatment and push out public hospital waiting lists.

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