ADA meets with ACCC to convey concerns about PHIs

Every year the ACCC is required to submit a report to the Australian Senate on private health insurer (PHI) anti-competitive activities. The ADA always provides a submission as a part of that process. As a result of the ADA's testimony at the Senate Inquiry into Out-of-Pocket Costs in Australian Healthcare last year, the ACCC held  a meeting with the ADA to better understand PHI issues relating to dentistry.

The ADA highlighted the following concerns to the ACCC:

• lack of transparency and accessibility of PHI product disclosure statements
• lack of transparency regarding levels of rebates provided under PHI policies for all dental treatments
• penalising patients who choose providers who are not the PHI's preferred provider, by imposing a lower rebate.

The meeting was followed with a detailed submission by the ADA. The ADA thanks members who contributed by lodging complaints about PHI behaviour to the ADA and invites members to read the submission on the ADA website.

This is an abridged version of an article by Rick Olive, Federal President ADA Inc., which appeared in the ADA News Bulletin, March 2015.