Health fund Bupa has upped stakes in a looming divorce with Mount Hospital owner Healthscope, offering doctors up to $500 each time they moved booked patients to a rival hospital next year.
UK-owned Bupa has sent the subsidy offer to specialists and practice managers in response to Healthscope revealing on November 22 that it had given three months notice of plans to prematurely terminate their services contract.
Healthscope’s move against Bupa and 22 not-for-profit health insurers came after pushing them for extra fees to cover what it said was the rising costs of providing high quality care.
Bought by Canadian giant Brookfield for $4.4 billion in February 2019, the Sydney and Melbourne-focused hospital operation was hit by a business slump during the COVID-19 and then surging inflation and interest bills.
Bloomberg reported on November 8 that Healthscope had received a covenant waiver on a $1.6 billion loan until March next year so it could negotiate higher reimbursements for its 38 hospitals.
Healthscope had secured out-of-cycle fee rises from Medibank Private, NIB and HCF in September but failed in talks with Bupa and funds represented by Australian Health Services Alliance.
Bupa on Tuesday confirmed it was encouraging doctors to shift their booked patients to other hospitals from February 21 and offering payments of $100 to $500 for each booking change.
The health fund described the incentive as “an administration support payment to help doctor practices manage any additional administration burden”.
“We want to help doctors continue to deliver the best possible clinical care and do what we can to ensure any additional administration costs are not passed onto our customers,” it said in a statement.
Bupa has told customers it will continue to cover treatment at Healthscope under its policies, but warned the hospital provider may choose to charge additional out-of-pocket expenses.
Healthscope in late October unveiled a daily out of pocket fee of up to $100 now reportedly being charged to Bupa customers.
https://thewest.com.au/business/health/uk-health-fund-bupa-ups-stakes-in-battle-with-brookfields-healthscope-operation-over-hospital-fee-hikes-c-17039585
