Around 600,000 Victorians are considering leaving public health cover which might result in a great strain on public hospitals if the state is sent back to how it was prior to the Medicare surcharge being introduced.

The Federal Government was criticized yesterday for thinking it was acceptable to push up the income threshold at which the surcharge could be given.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been blamed by the private health insurance industry for not keeping his promise to keep the surcharge the same

“Mr. Rudd had used weasel words to hide his true intentions”, Australia Health Insurance Association chief executive Michael Armitage said.

Armitage roughly calculated that even if there were a $600 million budget put into surgery waiting lists, public hospitals would still be losing $43 million per annum.

Premiums would increase for those who stuck with private insurance, he said. The AMA president Rosanna Capolingua believes it is possibly a signal to Australians that they do not need to buy private health insurance "Those people who genuinely cannot afford (hospital cover) will actually be pushed further down elective surgery waiting lists," she said.