Health Minister Peter Dutton is keen to learn more about insurer NIB's plans to take advantage of the growing demand in Australia for overseas medical treatment.
NIB has said growing its Australian residents health insurance is still the top priority but the company wants to explore other ways in which to expand.
The insurer has expressed interest in exploiting the growing popularity and growth of medical travel and could be considering offering overseas surgical packages to its members.
Mr Dutton said NIB needed to explain how it would guarantee people successful medical treatment and how it would work in conjunction with the private health care rebate.
But he hadn't made a judgment yet, adding he was keen to learn more about the proposal and what the insurer was offering in terms of safeguards.
"Ultimately we want Australians to benefit from interventions that are going to make them healthier," he told Sky News on Monday.
"If they can deliver a product which is not lacking in efficacy, can be delivered at a reasonable price, then I'd be interested to see their proposal."
He said many Australians already travelled abroad for medical procedures, while it was not uncommon for people to visit Australia for treatments as well.
NIB last month said it wanted to use its brand and distribution to capitalise on demand in Australia and Asia for medical travel, including for cosmetic surgery.
The insurer said it had to pursue new sources of earnings as regulatory constraints on pricing made it harder to lift margins in Australia, where market competition had intensified.
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