The Australian Doctors’ Federation is founded on advocating for the doctor-patient relationship. Protection of this gives the best healthcare outcomes. The doctor is the patient’s doctor, not the government’s doctor, or the corporation’s doctor.
The ACCC reported on 30/6/25 that it had instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Bupa HI Pty Ltd (Bupa) for breaches of Australian Consumer Law in relation to members’ entitlements to private health insurance benefits for certain claims, affecting thousands of consumers over a period of more than five years.
Bupa admitted to engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and making false or misleading representations by advising members they were not entitled to private health insurance benefits for their entire claim, when in fact this was not the case.
This instance shows the problem of third parties which can interfere with the doctor’s treatment of the patient.
Consumers purchase private health insurance to provide peace of mind, certainty of coverage and the ability to choose where and when to undertake their procedures. Bupa’s conduct denied certain members benefits to which they were entitled under their private health insurance policies.
Insurance companies ostensibly are there to help the patient with the cost of medical treatment.
Third parties are able to ration healthcare.
In the US, corporate interests have been shown to ration healthcare according to financial incentive.
In the UK, government is the universal funder of healthcare for patients and there is a restriction of healthcare occurring there. Patients are finding they cannot get effective treatment due to the limitations of funding and functioning of the bureaucracy preventing effective treatment.
These examples make clear the need for advocating for the doctor-patient relationship to prevent interference by third parties.