Private hospital operator Healthscope cancels Bupa deal, leaving ...

Healthscope, one of the country’s biggest operators of private health providers, has abruptly cancelled its deal with Bupa and a group of other insurers, which means 6.5 million Australians will have to pay significantly higher bills if they use its hospitals.

The decision is a sudden escalation in a long-brewing dispute over who should foot the bill for higher medical expenses and other soaring costs in the country’s private hospital system, which has been hit with mass closures and strikes over pay.