Nib CEO Mark Fitzgibbon.For prostatectomy procedures, about a quarter of nib members were charged between $2500 and $3000, meaning they had no out-of-pocket fees. However about another quarter were charged between $9000 and $10,000, and one was charged $17,600, and so had a "gap" bill of about $15,000.
Mr Fitzgibbon said this kind of "bill shock" was one of the major reasons people were cancelling their private health insurance, second only to rising premiums. Nib, the country's fourth-largest health fund, last week signed a partnership with online medical directory Healthshare, which tracks how often doctors participate in a health insurer's "gap cover" scheme, which means they agree to not charge the patient any out-of-pocket fees.
Most smaller funds have joined Healthshare, but two of the largest – Medibank and Bupa – have not signed up. Nib was previously involved in the launch of aNine Entertainment, the owner of this publication, owns a minority stake in Healthshare acquired through Fairfax Media's digital ventures arm.
pwhatch Best option is to hike annual Medicare Levy by an additional 1% & shut down private health insurance industry. Everyone gets 100% cover! No dodgy political donations too. nibhealthfunds ScottMorrisonMP GregHuntMP liberalaus AlboMP australianlabor