Canadian infrastructure giant Brookfield’s private hospitals business Healthscope has called in restructuring specialists, as insurers tighten their fists on payouts to the sector.
Already a subscriber?Canadian infrastructure giant Brookfield’s Australian private hospitals business Healthscope has called in restructuring specialists, as insurers tighten the screws on payouts to the sector.Street Talk can reveal Healthscope has appointed MA Financial to oversee the mooted restructure, while it is understood FTI Consulting is involved in the background with an ongoing management consulting role.
It comes as hospitals across the board, ranging from smaller players like Calvary Health Care to St Vincent’s in Darlinghurst, Sydney, face the double whammy of rising costs and shrinking insurer payouts. Against this backdrop, 16 facilities have shuttered since 2023 while 12 private hospitals have stopped offering key services like oncology or maternity, according to the Department of Health.
that for the past five years at least, insurers’ benefit payouts have undershot hospitals’ cost increases. His comments came after health minister, Mark Butler, announced a 3.03 per cent annual rise in private health premium on March 5. Roff reckons the general rule of thumb is that whatever average premium increase health insurance companies receive, what flows through to private hospitals is about 2 per cent below that.