Australia's peak professional body for doctors is throwing its weight behind plans to outlaw a sneaky price-gouging tactic used by private health insurers.

The federal government plans to close the loophole, known as phoenixing, that enables health insurers to scrap policies only to relaunch them under a new name and hit customers with large increases in premiums.

Today, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) backed a proposal that would force insurers to use only the annual, government-regulated process to change prices of new products, unless in exceptional circumstances.

"Private health insurance premiums have outpaced wages and inflation in recent years, all while insurers' management expenses and profits continue to soar," AMA president Danielle McMullen said.

"The widespread

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