Private hospitals want $200 per visit fee to head off funding crisis

Private hospitals say they should be allowed to charge patients up to $200 extra for every visit, warning there is little other choice unless Labor agrees to $1.3 billion in emergency funding for the next two years.

In a submission to the federal government, the industry organisation representing the vast majority of private hospitals said that facilities would have to close if both options were off the table, describing a spike in costs, which has not been matched with additional funding, as a crisis.