Australians face sky-high American-style treatment costs if governments continue to privatise hospitals and health services.

That’s the message from the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) in its new television advertising campaign - ‘Patients before profits’.

The campaign shows the cost of having a vaginal delivery in America’s privatised health system is almost $40,000, while a hernia procedure costs more than $105,200, a liver transplant costs over $1,525,500, breast cancer procedures cost almost $123,500, and a broken arm costs more than $7600.

More than 120 people in America die every day because they cannot afford the costs of privately run hospitals, the advertisement states.

The branch, a registered third-party campaigner for the upcoming March 28 state election, says the campaign is designed to blow the whistle on what an Americanised health care system could look like in Australia.

NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes said the state’s Liberal-National Government is privatising sub-acute mental health services and palliative care services, while disability services will no longer be government-run by 2018.

“We have also got the state government privatising new public hospitals,” he said.

“We’ve seen Northern Beaches Hospital handed over to Healthscope and Maitland will be announced in early April, after the election.

“It appears that the state government will privatise anything where there is new money or where they have got an opportunity to change services and argue that only the private sector can do it.

“It’s really about patients before profits - we believe that taxpayer dollars should be directed to the delivery of care, not to the benefit of the corporate shareholders.”

Mr Holmes said the Federal Government’s talk about bringing ‘price signals’ into the health market also flagged concerns.

He said patients are already paying large costs that fall outside their health insurance cover for care in the nation’s private hospitals.

“It’s clearly there that people experience high costs in health care,” he said.

“When you then put a private for-profit corporation in charge of your public hospitals, their intention is, of course, to get as many people as possible to pay up under their private health insurance and therefore be able to collect their profit.

“The American health system is not a model we want replicated here in Australia, or importantly, in NSW.

“It is plagued by unethical corporate interests and health outcomes for patients are far worse as a result of exorbitant medical costs.”

Mr Holmes said privatisation in health care is an issue people need to consider at the ballot box.

“We’re not telling people who to vote for - we’re telling people to send a message to the current Liberal National State Government,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that people start listening when their jobs are on the line, when they are up for election, so it’s an opportune time to campaign around issues that affect nurses and midwives.”

Mr Holmes said nurses and midwives are also campaigning for better ratios, particularly in smaller regional hospitals and emergency departments, and to maintain registered nurses in aged care.

“The state government has legislation currently under review as to whether they will maintain the requirement under the New South Wales’ Public Health Act to ensure 24-hour registered nurse coverage in nursing homes,” he said.