Under a new radical proposal by leading health specialists customers will soon be able to shop around for the best deal on health insurance due to competing health funds for ‘basic Medicare insurance.’

With the new health reform, consumers will also be able to top up their cover with optional private health insurance.

Professor Johannes Stoelwinder is a director of Medibank Privates and believes that Medicare Choice will draw lessons learnt from the Netherlands which spends about the same as Australia on health.

Johannes said: “Government funding for basic Medicare insurance would be pooled by the Commonwealth and provided to health insurance funds [taking into account the health, socio-economic and rural remote profile of the specific patient]. Health insurance funds would be responsible for purchasing all health services for their enrolled members.”

Stoelwinder proposed his idea at the National Health and Hospitals Reform commission and furthered: “Australia's health care system will remain a relative success if nothing more is done than initiatives to oil the squeaky wheels. The current review of the future of the system means that it may go in a different direction. Any alternative future will have to take into account our history and values a key one of which is choice.”