Pressure for health premium overhaul in election headache for Albanese

The country’s influential medical and private hospital lobbies are demanding Labor install an independent umpire to determine how high insurance premiums can rise, igniting a war over costs in the sector that threatens to become a cost-of-living headache for the Albanese government in the lead up to a federal election.

The Australian Medical Association, which represents thousands of doctors, and Catholic Health Australia, a major operator of private hospitals, both want the question of how much premiums increase taken out of the hands of the government.