Health insurance does not pay for palliative care
More Australians need to be aware that their private health insurance does not cover palliative care and they will not be covered to end their days in their private room or at home. They will be transferred to the public system.
“There is an urgent need to develop policies around palliative care in Australia’s private hospital system so that patients and families can have a choice about where they die,” said Professor Margaret O’Connor, President of Palliative Care Australia.
“At the moment there is virtually no community-linked palliative care available in private hospitals and your health insurance will not pay for palliative care at home.”
“What happens now, is you are transferred to the public system when you are at the end of life. And I think many Australians would be surprised to hear that.”
“The Federal Government passed legislation four months ago to enable home based care for private insurers, but there has been no response from private health care funds.“
“Why not? If you have been paying for private health insurance all your working life I think you would be amazed to find it does not pay for services when you really need them,” she said.
