SA report points to health issues

Thousands of patients will be left untreated, hospital waiting lists will grow and private health insurance premiums will rise if federal health cuts are allowed to stand, the South Australian government says.

Ahead of the Council of Australian Governments meeting this week, Premier Jay Weatherill has released a report on the impact of the cuts imposed in the 2014/15 federal budget.

"As we approach this week's COAG meeting and the prospect of an early federal election, it is important we highlight the devastating consequences of these cuts to health care," Mr Weatherill said.

The Ernst & Young report found that the health cuts would leave more than 56,000 SA patients untreated each year by 2019/20 with that number likely to blow out to 107,000 in 2024/25.

It also found waiting lists would grow and that private health premiums would rise by an extra 0.5 per cent each year as a result of more people shifting to the private hospital system.

"The report also reinforces the unavoidable fact that these cuts have the largest impact on our most vulnerable South Australians," Mr Weatherill said.

"But this isn't just a South Australian problem, it's something that affects every state."