The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has published its report to the Senate on ‘any anti-competitive practices by health insurers or providers, which reduce the extent of health cover for consumers and increase their out-of-pocket medical and other expenses’.

The Report is for the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.

The key concerns are:

• the availability of useful consumer information about private health insurance products and health services and their related costs; and
• contract negotiations between health insurers and health service providers.