The private health sector and the government should join hands and develop a rescue plan to prevent the industry from “spiralling to its death”, says a report from think tank the Grattan Institute. The report, released on Wednesday, points out the urgent need for an industry-wide overhaul as private insurance premiums continue to rise faster than inflation and wages after 20 years. “The industry was in a death spiral before the pandemic, and it’s still in a death spiral today,” wrote the report authors Stephen Duckett and Greg Moran, “Australians are paying more but getting less.” By the end of 2020, membership of private health insurers had grown to its highest level since March 2017. An ageing population, increased use of healthcare services, and rising healthcare costs are major factors contributing to the “death spiral”, the report says. They are driving up the number of benefits that insurers have to …