More health insurers to face legal action for consumer rip-offs: ACCC
23.2.2017
Australia's consumer watchdog says it plans to take legal action against more private health insurers this year, saying many patients are being slugged with unexpected hefty bills after hospital visits.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims said he felt a mixture of "surprise" and "horror" after reading stories of how some patients were treated by private health insurers.
"What concerns us is companies saying, 'Well it's too expensive to keep offering this to members, so we'll stop doing it' and not telling people," he said.
"So someone could have gone to hospital, enjoyed certain benefits one day, go back again and be faced with a large, out-of-pocket bill the next day.
"It is certainly surprising how these decisions are made, and particularly given the impact that they can have on vulnerable people who are in hospital or are just about to go into hospital."
The ACCC is already involved in legal action against insurer Medibank Private.
It has alleged it breached Australian Consumer Law by engaging in misleading conduct, making false or misleading representations and engaging in unconscionable conduct...
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