Unpaid bills cause concern
Health authorities in Western Australia (WA) have voiced their concern that foreigners are not paying their hospital bills, prompting the WA Health Department (WAHD) to try and recover its outlay for such patients, which is currently estimated to be around AU$3.3 million. Although Australia has a number of reciprocal health agreements in place with countries including the UK, Italy and Finland, many other nations’ citizens are required to pay for any treatment they receive while on holiday in Australia. However, many of these patients, said WAHD, are returning to their home countries without paying their medical bills. Kim Hames, WA Health Minister, confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that people are not paying their bills, but added: “The alternative would be to not treat these patients, which may result in ongoing illness or even death. I would hope most people travelling to Australia do take out travel insurance but understand that may not necessarily be the case.” Dave Mountain, president of the Australian Medical Association WA, was cautious about the possibility of mandating travel insurance for tourists, believing it would be impossible to force all visitors to purchase the product. He added: “I'm sure there’s a lot of Australians who travel overseas without insurance, so we should be careful about the effects on the travelling public. $3 million is not a huge amount, it’s 1,000th of the operating costs of the public health system, but everything counts and it does buy a fair bit in the WA health system.” He further cautioned: “Also, it’s important to remember, some of these travellers would have put a lot of money into the WA economy, and will go home with a good opinion of WA, so there are some upsides.” Elsewhere in Australia, the problem remains. In the heavy tourist traffic state of Victoria, in the southwest of the country, more than $6 million of unpaid bills is outstanding after tourists have been treated. Interestingly, less than half of the 11,372 international patients requiring a hospital bed in the state were in hospital for emergency medical treatment – one in five had elective surgery, and many were pregnant women who ended up in maternity wards. Victorian Health Department data show that in the last six years, the number of foreign patients treated has almost tripled, with the number reaching almost 30,000 for the 2010-2011 period. The most common reasons given for the hospital visits include births, maternity services, kidney failure, cancer, colds, flu, injuries and infections. According to the data, the visitors come from a number of different countries, but the most common visitors hail from India, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Fiji, the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Together, citizens from these countries account for more than half of foreigners admitted to Victoria hospitals, but none of the countries have a reciprocal agreement with Australia for healthcare. Following the release of the data, state vice-president of the Australian Medical Association Stephen Parnis said that mandatory travel insurance for tourists should be considered. He said: “If people have the means to come to Australia on an international holiday, they should have the means to make allowance for their own healthcare.”
Health authorities in Western Australia (WA) have voiced their concern that foreigners are not paying their hospital bills, prompting the WA Health Department (WAHD) to try and recover its outlay for such patients, which is currently estimated to be around AU$3.3 million. Although Australia has a number of reciprocal health agreements in place with countries including the UK, Italy and Finland, many other nations’ citizens are required to pay for any treatment they receive while on holiday in Australia. However, many of these patients, said WAHD, are returning to their home countries without paying their medical bills.
Kim Hames, WA Health Minister, confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper that people are not paying their bills, but added: “The alternative would be to not treat these patients, which may result in ongoing illness or even death. I would hope most people travelling to Australia do take out travel insurance but understand that may not necessarily be the case.”
Dave Mountain, president of the Australian Medical Association WA, was cautious about the possibility of mandating travel insurance for tourists, believing it would be impossible to force all visitors to purchase the product. He added: “I'm sure there’s a lot of Australians who travel overseas without insurance, so we should be careful about the effects on the travelling public. $3 million is not a huge amount, it’s 1,000th of the operating costs of the public health system, but everything counts and it does buy a fair bit in the WA health system.” He further cautioned: “Also, it’s important to remember, some of these travellers would have put a lot of money into the WA economy, and will go home with a good opinion of WA, so there are some upsides.”
Elsewhere in Australia, the problem remains. In the heavy tourist traffic state of Victoria, in the southwest of the country, more than $6 million of unpaid bills is outstanding after tourists have been treated. Interestingly, less than half of the 11,372 international patients requiring a hospital bed in the state were in hospital for emergency medical treatment – one in five had elective surgery, and many were pregnant women who ended up in maternity wards.
Victorian Health Department data show that in the last six years, the number of foreign patients treated has almost tripled, with the number reaching almost 30,000 for the 2010-2011 period. The most common reasons given for the hospital visits include births, maternity services, kidney failure, cancer, colds, flu, injuries and infections. According to the data, the visitors come from a number of different countries, but the most common visitors hail from India, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Fiji, the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Together, citizens from these countries account for more than half of foreigners admitted to Victoria hospitals, but none of the countries have a reciprocal agreement with Australia for healthcare.
Following the release of the data, state vice-president of the Australian Medical Association Stephen Parnis said that mandatory travel insurance for tourists should be considered. He said: “If people have the means to come to Australia on an international holiday, they should have the means to make allowance for their own healthcare.”