Health - Labor to Cut Health Insurance Rebates
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According to The Australian, up to 65,000 families in regional areas could be affected by Labor’s plans. Labor wants health insurance rebates for lower-level hospital cover to be removed. Read on to find out more.
Which Health Insurance Rebates Do They Want Removed?
Labor has identified what they call a ‘tiny number of people’ who have purchased low value hospital cover to avoid paying the Medicare surcharge. While new health insurance policies have much clearer guidelines, in contrast there are still old policies out there. Customers can only use public hospital services under these policies, making them virtually valueless.
Customers with those type of policies are able to avoid contributing the Medicare surcharge, and Labor believes this could save around $80 million in the budget. The idea of the Medicare surcharge is to support the public health system. Customers can avoid the surcharge by having hospital cover. This is because the shouldn’t rely on the public system.
Often referred to as ‘junk’ policies, Labor wants to ensure taxpayers aren’t subsidising products that deliver no real health benefits.
Who Opposes the Plan
First of all, Coalition Health Minister Greg Hunt has labelled the move ‘complete policy chaos’. Mr Hunt suggests the people most likely to be affected are the elderly in regional communities. Rachel David, the Chief Executive of Private Healthcare Australia was also concerned. Ms David also warned of the adverse effects for elderly people in regional areas.
Furthermore, the health insurance industry believes that many of these so-called ‘junk policies’ were taken out by people in regional Australia who didn’t have access to private health facilities.
Compare Health Insurance and Save
Whether Labor succeeds in their plan or not, now is a great time to compare health insurance and save. New hospital cover policies will ensure access to health insurance rebates, and new reforms present a great chance to save. Let Billy Explores compare deals from our panel of providers and potentially save you money today!