"The Federal Government’s ideological drive, reflected in this Federal budget, to get more and more people to take out private health insurance that they can ill afford would be comical if money was not coming out of the public purse in order to do it" said Dr Costa, President of the Doctors Reform Society.

" Australian’s get little value out of private health insurance, particularly young people, who get a much better deal out of Medicare where they are not hit with out-of-pocket costs or increasing premiums. As with all Australians, when they need care, 90% of the time it’s the underfunded, life-saving public hospitals they will need" said Dr Costa.

"Yet again, here is a Federal Government budget which focuses on the problems of the failed private health insurance funds and does nothing for the public system." said Dr Con Costa.

"The private health funds have never done anything to benefit Australia’s health system and were originally created simply to transfer money from patients to doctors. They have always done it inefficiently and with little cost control" said Dr Costa.

"The Doctors Reform Society reaffirms the opinions of all the experts that we are not helping the public system by propping up the failed private health insurance funds. It’s a sad day for Australia when the country’s leading teaching hospital was unable to perform a liver transplant because the hospital couldn’t afford the intensive care bed and facilities. Shame on this Federal Government." said Dr Costa.

11 May, 1999

author/seconder Con Costa, Alf Liebhold