“Health Insurance is not Healthcare” is a simple yet powerful mantra that we should remember, now more than ever. With the creep of US style managed care into the Australian Healthcare system and insidiously into the patient-doctor relationship, we have to work together to ensure we maintain, preserve and protect the patient doctor relationship, patient’s freedom of choice and doctor’s clinical autonomy if we are to continue delivery of quality healthcare.
The commercialisation of healthcare by buying groups such as that being introduced by Honeysuckle Cigna NIB through the ACCC, risks reducing clinical care and decision making down to pure profit basis rather than on clinically sound decision making founded on scientific fact. There should be no third wheel in the patient-doctor relationship – health insurance should not have input on patient clinical treatment and healthcare.
Let’s maintain patient-centric healthcare and ask those with power to legislate and regulate to Send the Eagle Home!