Why can’t HBF keep benefits down?
While we work with hospitals and other healthcare providers to keep costs down Health funds do not set the price of most services for which we pay benefits. There have been significant increases in the costs of providing healthcare including increased salaries for clinical staff like nurses. As a result, private hospitals have told HBF that they expect their labour costs to rise by up to 12.5% in the coming year. The cost of some procedures has risen steeply. The average benefit we paid for a varicose vein operation rose from $1,557 to $1,951 in one year and for a caesarean delivery from $5,656 to $6,252. And there are increasing numbers of claims for some expensive procedures. The number of knee replacements by our members went up by over 19% last year. HBF paid an average of $22,000 in benefits for each of these operations.
