Private health insurers and Medicare work in tandem to give us our current health care system. Among the benefits of this are shorter waiting times for elective surgery and less demand for public hospital beds.
| • | There were 561 private hospitals operating in Australia in 2008–09. |
| * Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2010. Australian Hospital Statistics 2008-09. | |
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| • | Private hospitals treat 4 out of every 10 admitted hospital patients in Australia, representing 31% of all days of hospitalisation. |
| *Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2010. Australian Hospital Statistics 2008-09. | |
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| • | Private hospitals perform the majority of surgery in Australia – 57.3%. |
| *Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2010. Australian Hospital Statistics 2008-09. | |
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