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Doctors Health Fund Case Study Essay

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Doctors’ Health Fund CEO achieves 10 years’ service
In May 2018, Peter Aroney celebrated 10 years as CEO of Doctors’ Health Fund. To mark the occasion, Peter provided some observations on the private health insurance industry and his time with Doctors’ Health Fund and.

What changes have you seen in the industry over the past 10 years?
I’ve observed four major changes since 2008: rising healthcare costs, gradual reduction of government support, introduction of junk policies and increasing privatisation.

Rising costs: Although privately insured consumers were somewhat immunised from these rising costs at the time through the Private Health Insurance Government rebate, the means testing of this rebate in 2012 and subsequent changes to the …show more content…

At the same time, Governments, on the whole, see the need for supporting the private sector to help keep in check their own spending growth and maintain a vibrant and dynamic healthcare industry. The freeze of the MBS from 2013 to 2017 is an example.

Junk policies: Some health insurers have responded, perhaps unsurprisingly, with so-called junk policies to contain premium rises, retain members and provide at least some contribution to the overall system cost. Unfortunately, this means patients would likely end up in the public system, given the limited coverage afforded. Other insurers have restricted medical benefits, giving rise to out-of-pocket costs, as doctors found it increasingly challenging to adhere to schedule terms.

Privatisation: Ownership structures of health insurers have changed dramatically with the sale of AHM to Medibank, the demutualisation and sale of MBF to Bupa and the privatisation of Medibank. What was an industry dominated by mutual, not-for-profits, has become a shareholder owned, for-profit dominated sector. This, in turn has coincided with the rise of the private hospital sector, with private companies like Ramsay and Healthscope representing a significant portion of private hospital beds now as opposed to …show more content…

Our growth and relative premium stability have been amongst the top performers of all health insurers in this period.

Whilst this growth rate might be the envy of any financial service organisation, the real achievement is that we have not diverted from the focused strategy envisaged by those who established the Fund back in 1977 – to serve doctors and their families by providing quality products, excellent service and value for money.

We have invested in new technologies such as our mobile app, improved website and industry-leading systems to improve the speed and efficiency of claims processing. In fact, we were amongst the first funds to introduce a mobile app for claims. No matter how much we grow, the core of our business is our connection to the medical profession and to offer excellent outcomes in everything we do.

The association with Avant has been a big part of our success. Not only has Avant provided the financial security which has supported our growth, but we have been able to leverage some core centralised services whilst maintaining our independence in operations and

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