Ramsay walks away from peak body fuelling fears of weaker bargaining power

Ramsay Health Care, Australia’s largest private hospital provider, has confirmed it will withdraw its membership from the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) at the end of 2026, formally triggering the required six-month notice period under the APHA constitution.

The decision lands at a politically sensitive time for Australia’s private healthcare, with Ramsay’s exit exposing deeper fractures in an already strained sector grappling with funding pressure, insurer profits, and declining hospital margins. The departure of its most influential member inevitably weakens the industry body.

Ramsay reported a 9.7% increase in group revenue to $9.34 billion for the first half of fiscal year 2026, compared to the prior corresponding period. The group also expanded its footprint by acquiring National Capital Private from the Healthscope divestment, establishing its first hospital presence in Canberra.

“The APHA thanks Ramsay for decades of valued partnership and looks forward to continuing to work with them in a new capacity in 2027,” APHA CEO Brett Heffernan said. “Ramsay has been a longstanding and important part of the APHA, and we are grateful for everything we have achieved together over the years. We fully respect their decision and wish them every success going forward.”

Christine Gee AM, Director of Ramsay Mental Health Australia, is currently APHA’s President, highlighting how deeply entwined Ramsay has been in the association’s governance structure.

Yet the optics of the split are hard to ignore. Ramsay walking away from the APHA is being compared to a major insurer such as Bupa or Medibank withdrawing from Private Healthcare Australia (PHA). At a time when hospitals are under acute financial stress, fragmentation risks further weakening collective negotiating leverage with government and insurers.

Ramsay has recently elevated its own bargaining power with government. Two former senior figures from the Albanese Government, Nick Martin, formerly Chief of Staff to Health Minister Mark Butler, and Billy Moore, formerly Minister Butler’s private health adviser, have moved into senior government relations roles at Ramsay. This has raised fresh scrutiny over the blurred boundary between public office and private influence.

Heffernan maintains the association is well positioned despite losing its largest and most influential member, arguing it will continue pressing the federal government for long-promised reforms identified in its Private Hospital Viability Health Check in November 2024. At the same time, the financial tension underlying the system is becoming harder to ignore, with insurers recording $2.7 billion in operating profits last year while private hospitals collectively posted a $756 million loss.

“The APHA will continue to make the case clearly and persistently, to government and to the public, that reform is needed now,” added Heffernan. “A thriving private hospital sector is in everyone’s interest, and we remain determined to secure the policy settings that make that possible.”

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