The design and objective of insurance organisations should not rely on seeking savings from claims. If you look at the concept of insurance, from a purely theoretical basis, it is a highly efficient and ethical system aiming to achieve a common good (that is meeting the interest of all member contributors) . It is a far more ethical system than state provision of health services, if it is not abused by anyone (that includes managers and members). It should work, if we all just followed the rules.

John Menadue, a former chair of Qantas, was commissioned by the NSW government in 2000 to review that state’s public health system. He found it leaderless. He says that it is still leaderless. With 26% of the state's budget going into health, we cannot afford a leaderless public health system. The community must take an active role. I recommend that you visit my group’s website.

Public hospitals in the city in my state are in a permanent state of chaos with ambulance stacking, no beds and staff shortages added to the general trend. There should be separate places where drug crazed manics can be taken instead of creating a further shortage and further havoc for all.
Patients are stashed on gurneys or sent home when once they would have been given a bed with treatment.
But there is plenty of money for sport stadiums.
Politicians and their families should be made by law to use public hospitals while they are in public life. Maybe that way, they will be forced to confront the truth.

Firstly - the writer and commenters here should note that politicians' salaries would make them liable for the medicare levy surcharge if they chose to rely solely on the public health system.
Secondly - health is, unfortunatly, one of the spending black-holes that governments have. That is, it doesn't much matter how much money you throw at it - there will never be enough. There are a few other obvious examples of this where you can tip in an extra billion here and there and it doesn't even touch the sides.
Thirdly, in the scheme of things Australia has a pretty good public health system - this is not to say it has no faults, just that its not bad.
Lastly, the US system - for all its faults, has produced some of the finest hospitals, doctors and medical technology in the world. Is that purely accidental?

Here is a link to a website about corporate medicine.

http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/health/sociopathy.html

It estimated that fraud in the health care system in America cost abut 10% of the One Trillion dollars spent on health in America.

What the Author did not mention is that in the 80's & 90's HMO's and the insurers would split the difference if patients were discharged early.

The Health care sector out performed the financial sector on investor return and was the darling on wall street.

I have looked after Americans in Australia and have been told that it is very easy to move from being comfortable middle class to dirt poor just by getting sick.

Perhaps in the near future Australians will be flying to New Zealand for their health care needs.

Health Insurance is nothing more than a shameful scam that ASIC should have clamped down upon right from the off.
It undermines the National Health Service and the money the Howard, Conservative Government gives to it via the reluctant donator makes it a double scam. If all the money that is given to private health and Medical Insurances was given to the National Health Service we would not be in a mess this Howard Government has put us all in over the last eleven years. The Conservatives have ruined the Natioanal Health Service by stealth by starving the States of what is entitled it used to be 50 x50 now it is States 70 Howard Government 30 and the Conservative media are not reporting this. We will all be seeing SICKO this Thursday night. When we all saw 9/11 the cinema stood up and gave the film a standing ovation.