Increase in hospital charges for private patient

The final stage in lifting charges for private patients who choose to be treated in Western Australia's public hospitals will come into effect on July 1.

Health Minister Keith Wilson said today the increase would bring WA rates up to the benchmark set by the Commonwealth Government on which insurance benefits for privately insured patients were based.

Mr Wilson said the increase would not affect public patients, and would be reimbursed in full for patients with private hospital insurance.

In February last year, the State Government announced that public hospital charges for private patients would rise in stages over the next two years to the Commonwealth's benchmark for shared-room accommodation - $189 a day for the 1992-93 financial year.

The first increase took effect on March 1 last year; the second on September 1 and the third on January 1 this year.  The fourth increase (from July 1) will take the cost of a shared-room bed in WA from $180 to $189 a day.

Mr Wilson said it was a tribute to the high standards of care offered in public hospitals that so many Western Australians with private insurance chose to be treated there.

The move to lift fees to the Commonwealth benchmark would further strengthen WA's case for increased funding for hospitals, because the Commonwealth could no longer argue that WA lagged behind.

Mr Wilson added that while he welcomed recent indications that the Commonwealth might increase hospital finance to the States in the new Medicare agreement, he would continue lobbying until WA's hospitals were funded adequately to ensure they could continue providing high-quality services.