The APRA December quarter statistics on Private Health Insurance highlight once again the cost reductions that have been delivered by MTAA’s (Medical Technology Association of Australia) Agreement with the Commonwealth, with cost reductions of over 23% in some categories.

Between mid-August to end of September, MTPConnect will be conducting a series of problem definition workshops on the clinical challenges and key themes that will form the basis of the applications for funding distribution for SMEs and researchers.

The Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) today welcomed the findings of the Senate Inquiry into the price regulation associated with the Prostheses List Framework.  Last year in Australia more than 2.5 million surgeries took place, and for each and every one of these surgeries innovative medical technology played a part.  As the committee report itself states, medical devices account for only 14 cents in every dollar paid in private health insurance reimbursements.  Overall, spending on life enhancing medical devices accounts for only 1.2% of the entire Australian health budget.  The Senate Committee report clearly reflected the complexity of the issues involved in medical device pricing and rejected the slash and burn approach advocated by the private health insurers.  The recommendations of the report are sensible and MTAA supports them.

Australia is leading the advance of ethical practice in Australia’s healthcare system with the launch of the Australian Consensus Framework for Ethical Collaboration in the Australian Healthcare Sector (Australian Consensus Framework).