superb quarterly cash flow report, page-3

I agree....the debt is well covered.

The Medicare Surcharge changes will have less impact on PHG that other private hopital providers because their assets are in regional areas where there is not a lot of choice, so people in those areas will be less inclined to dump private insurance. Also, the penalty incurred when private insurance is commenced after age 30 will discourage many over that age from leaving it. Finally, those who leave are probably those who wouldn't be claiming on their insurance anyway so no impact on private hospital providers.

The thing I will be looking out for in the annual report is the magnitude of non-cash expense in the form of annual amortisation of goodwill. There is a sizeable goodwill component in each of the acquisitions. We will have to wait and see how many years they amortise that over.