The private health insurance sector gathers in Melbourne today for the 2017 conference of Private Healthcare Australia.
The conference, to be held at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne, has the theme 'Securing the Future of Private Health: Affordability, Participation, Value'.
The one-day conference will start with a keynote address from health minister Greg Hunt, who recently announced a raft of reforms to the sector, and will be in the process of considering next year's premium increases.
A panel discussion on affordability will feature Professor Terry Campbell, chair of the Prostheses List Advisory Committee, HCF managing director Sheena Jack and Dr Jeff Harmer, chair of the Private Health Ministerial Advisory Committee and a former senior bureaucrat.
Another panel will also focus on the participation of millenials in private health insurance, their experiences with the product and the impact of government’s new Lifetime Health Cover discount.
An industry panel, comprised of key stakeholders including the AMA, Ramsay Healthcare, along with the federal Member for Goldstein, Tim Wilson, will discuss consumer expectations and how sectors can cooperate to keep private health sustainable and keep pressure off the public hospital system.
The day will end with networking drinks and a dinner with guest speaker, the broadcaster, author and journalist, Julia Baird.