Transcript
Station: ABC Perth
Program: Drive with Oliver Peterson
Date: 5/5/2026
Time: 4:50 PM
Compere: Oliver Peterson
Program: Drive with Oliver Peterson
Date: 5/5/2026
Time: 4:50 PM
Compere: Oliver Peterson
Interviewee: Ben Harris, Director of Policy and Research, Private Healthcare Australia
| Oliver Peterson | At the time of the announcement, it was just quite unclear how much this would cost the over 65s. New modelling release from Private Healthcare Australia says, well, this could cost older Australians thousands every single year. Ben Harris can tell you more. He is the Director of Policy and Research, and he joins me live on DRIVE to explain their work. Hello, Ben. |
| Ben Harris | G’day Oliver, how are you? |
| Oliver Peterson | I’m good Ben, break it down please. What is this rebate reduction going to cost the over 65s? |
| Ben Harris | So Oliver, what the Minister has announced is that an extra rebate which is paid for older Australians will disappear. Now there are 358,000 people with private health insurance who are over 65 in Western Australia, so that’s 358,000 people who will be affected. The cost is going to be really quite substantial. So there’s an extra rebate, which is an extra 4% if you’re between 65 and 69, and an extra 8% if you’re over 70. So from the 1st of April next year, your private health insurance will go up the normal amount. This year there was an average of 4%. Plus an extra eight per cent. So if you’re on a typical silver couples policy and you’re over 70, you’re going to get a 12 per cent whack. If you’ve got a gold policy, they’re increasing at a greater rate, and it’s going to be a 20 per cent whack at more than $1,000 extra. Now, I get the minister’s issues around generational inequity and there are plenty of people over 65 who are quite wealthy. We are really, really worried about people on pensions and people on low incomes who just won’t be able to afford their top cover going forward with it. So we’ve asked the government to look at exempting people on lower incomes. |
| Oliver Peterson | So it should be means tested, Ben. |
| Ben Harris | Absolutely. Older people need more healthcare. Out of those 358,000 people, there are almost 200,000 hospital admissions that we pay for in Western Australia through health insurance for those people over 65. Those benefits are $935 million. Now, if people have to drop their private health insurance or downgrade, then some of that’s going to flow onto the public system as well, increasing waiting lists, increasing the time to get elective surgery. Now, the arguments around the same people, people on same income should pay the same. Look, it makes sense, but older people need more health care. And the practical effects of this policy for people on really low incomes is going to be really difficult. |
| Oliver Peterson | So Ben, do you have any projections for what percentage of those 365,000 West Australians affected might actually drop their private health? |
| Ben Harris | The government hasn’t shared that with us. We expect it’ll be quite a few, you know, might be 5,000, might be 10,000, but the government hasn’t shared that data yet. But even if it’s only like one or 2%, that’s going to put a big, big strain on the public hospital system. But it’ll be bad for those 350,000 people who stay as well, because their prices will be going up quite dramatically. |
| Oliver Peterson | Well, Sarah says she’s going to cancel her hospital cover because of this. So therefore she’ll be adding to the load on the public system. She doesn’t think that the Federal Government has thought this through. Is Mark Butler open, Ben, to the idea of means testing this for some older Australians? |
| Ben Harris | We hope so. We’ve spoken to him about it. It will be in the Budget and we will need to make the case, and with people like Sarah helping us, that a whole heap of older people are really going to suffer with this policy. |
| Oliver Peterson | 1300 22 1025, love to hear your reaction. Ben Harris is with me now, the Director of Policy and Research at Private Healthcare Australia. They’ve revealed that 385,000 West Australians over the age of 65 will see the cost of private health increase by thousands of dollars every year. With the federal government making that announcement, they’re going to scrap the private health discount for seniors, people over 65, freeing up more funding for aged care. Should it be means tested? 1300 22 1025. Hey Ben, while I have you, last week we spoke with a variety of listeners who were stung by high specialist fees. Is Private Healthcare Australia concerned about the current specialist markets? |
| Ben Harris | Oh, absolutely. And Minister Butler is doing a great job with this. He’s got legislation in the parliament at the moment which will make sure that every specialist’s fee is available for people to see. So if price is an issue for you or cost of healthcare is an issue, and frankly it is for pretty much everyone, you’ll be able to see what specialists charge and do some shopping around. This is really, really important. We’ve seen some out-of-pocket fees for specialist consultations, which health insurance is not allowed to cover, in Western Australia over $700. And we know you talked about that on your show last week, Oliver, and some of those stories are horrendous. But the minister’s going to bring in that transparency, but he’s also said, and said last night, that every option will be on the table and I’m really excited by what we could do there to make sure people get more access to specialist care. It’s really, really important. |
| Oliver Peterson | Ben, should the insurers also provide greater cover for those specialist procedures? Because often people pay in all their lives for procedures like this, suddenly to find out they’re not covered. Should the insurers protect their customers more? |
| Ben Harris | Well, we do pay more, Oliver, where the doctor agrees not to charge an out-of-pocket cost or limits that out-of-pocket cost. We can’t just chase specialists’ desire for as much income as they like, because premiums would absolutely go through the roof. But more than 90% of the services, not the admissions, the actual services in Western Australia are paid through no gap or non-gap arrangements, which limit those out-of-pocket costs. |
| Oliver Peterson | So there’s currently a medical costs finder portal. It is voluntary. Would you hope that this may become mandatory for all specialists to be publishing their fees online? |
| Ben Harris | Yeah, look, there are thousands of specialists in Australia and last I looked there were 88 doctors who have put their details on. It’s ridiculous. So Minister Butler has got laws in the parliament right now to make it mandatory. The government will fill that in for all the doctors who haven’t done so, and people will be able to see what a specialist will cost. |
| Oliver Peterson | Ben Harris, I appreciate your time today. Thank you very much. |
| Ben Harris | Thanks, Oliver. |
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