Peoplecare is committed to providing members with private hospital options that represent the highest quality and best value. To meet this commitment to you, Peoplecare has agreements with over 500 private hospitals across Australia.
A number of these agreements are with Healthscope, which operates 38 private hospitals across Australia and provide a range of medical, surgical, psychiatric and rehabilitation services.
Healthscope recently attempted to introduce an additional out of pocket fee for our members, despite this fee not being permitted under the contract they signed with Peoplecare in March 2024. This agreement is legally binding, and our fund expected Healthscope to uphold its terms.
Peoplecare strongly opposed this fee being charged to our members and has communicated this to Healthscope. We are committed to acting in your best interests and believe this fee is not permitted under our contract with Healthscope, nor is it justified, necessary, or fair.
As a result, Healthscope have made the decision to terminate our agreement effective from midnight 3rd March 2025.
We are disappointed that Healthscope have made this decision only 9 months into our current two-year agreement. But, as a not-for-profit private health insurer we must ensure our contracts contain fair charges that reduce out-of-pocket costs and avoid pressure on your Peoplecare premium payments.
If you are admitted to a Healthscope hospital prior to midnight 3rd March 2025, you will remain covered under our current agreement.
If you know that you are requiring treatment at a Healthscope facility after midnight 3rd March 2025, you may be eligible for transitional arrangements. You can contact us on 1800 808 690 to discuss your eligibility.
If not eligible for transitional arrangements, you will still be able to access Healthscope hospitals after midnight 3rd March 2025, and Peoplecare will continue to pay a benefit towards previously contracted services. However, in the absence of an agreement, Healthscope may choose to charge you an out–of pocket cost for your admission.
As this decision to terminate was made by Healthscope, we encourage you to raise any concerns directly with the hospital or your doctor. It may be possible for your doctor to treat you at an alternate hospital where we continue to hold an agreement.
Peoplecare will notify members if Healthscope’s position on termination of our contract changes.
Transitional arrangements will apply in the following circumstances (meaning your treatment can proceed at any of the Healthscope hospitals under the current agreement):
^This includes bookings notified by the doctor or where the member has completed the necessary admission forms.
You can find a list of Healthscope Hospitals here and alternate hospitals that are in close proximity. You can also use our Hospital Search tool to identify other contracted hospitals in your area.
Healthscope is a national private hospital provider with a network of 38 hospitals.
It only affects you if you need to attend a Healthscope hospital . If this scenario occurs, please contact us immediately to enable us to discuss your options with you.
If you wish to avoid out of pocket costs, we suggest you discuss the situation with your doctor and check if they have admitting rights at another hospital where we have an agreement. We have a search tool on our website to show what hospitals we hold an agreement with.
It is important to note that in the absence of an agreement, we will still pay a benefit toward your admission at any Healthscope hospital, but we are unable to confirm if or how much Healthscope will charge to you in out-of-pocket expenses
The contract terminates at midnight the 3rd March 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact us on 1800 808 690 or email info@peoplecare.com.au.