Despite consistently claiming hes already delivered the most significant reforms to private health insurance in over a decade Minister Hunt has today been dragged to admit the sector requires reform by announcing hes working on changes.

In what appears to be a poor attempt to steal the limelight from todays Grattan Institute report into the private health insurance sector, Minister Hunt has announced hes planning a revolution that would enable health funds to cover services outside of hospitals.

Expanding service delivery outside of hospitals might very well have a role to play in private health insurance reform, but this standalone announcement, which appears to be a thought bubble, is not the silver bullet required to fix the health insurance sector.

What the Minister needs to do urgently is release details and modelling on how this reform will intersect with every aspect of the industry and deliver savings for consumers.

And what the Government needs to do is accept responsibility when it comes to taking action on private health insurance reform and call for a root and branch review of the entire sector to ensure customers are getting value for money.

In todays article, Hunt also admits hes told insurers to sharpen their pencils to tackle premiums, a statement so devoid of substance it would fall over in a light breeze.

Under this Government out of pocket health costs and wait times for health care are at record highs, while private health insurance is being abandoned at an alarming rate, leading to increasingly unaffordable costs.

Last weeks Quarterly Private Health Insurance Statistics have confirmed thousands of young Australians aged 25 34 abandoned their hospital insurance from June to September.

The Government recently refused to rule out calls from the private health industry to privatise access to general practitioners and other services, which would be a dangerous step towards Americanising our health care system.

The only way to address the private health insurance crisis is with a root and branch review of the system.

The time for a review into private health insurance is now.