Transcript
Station: 2GB
Program: Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard
Date: 29/4/2026
Time: 5:15 PM
Compere: Clinton Maynard
Program: Sydney Now with Clinton Maynard
Date: 29/4/2026
Time: 5:15 PM
Compere: Clinton Maynard
Interviewee: Dr Rachel David, CEO, Private Healthcare Australia
| Clinton Maynard | Last week on the program we spent a fair bit of time talking about the changes that have been announced by the Health Minister Mark Butler to Aged Care. Now these are essential changes. These have to happen. We can’t have a situation where people receiving home care, which keeps them out of hospitals, keeps them out of nursing homes, are having to pay $100 to have someone come to their home to help them with a shower. That’s ridiculous. So the government’s going to change that. But to help pay for those reforms, they’re going to slug a lot of people more for private health insurance. They’re going to change the rebate for private health insurance for those aged over 65. Well, the numbers have been crunched on this. And the numbers show that the government most likely is shooting themselves in the foot. Why? Because they save money by encouraging people over the age of 65 to have private health insurance. There is a net saving to the government of almost $5,000 if people over the age of 75 have private health cover. Why? Because they’re then not going to a public hospital as often under the Medicare system. Dr Rachel David is the CEO of Private Health Care Australia. Thank you for your time, Doctor. |
| Rachel David | Thank you, Clinton. |
| Clinton Maynard | I don’t think it makes any sense to make it harder for older people to have private health insurance. |
| Rachel David | Well, it’s going to be very difficult for those people who are going to be hit right in the hip pocket. So it’s going to affect about 3 million people. And for people aged 65 to 69, it will be at least a 5% extra premium increase. And for people aged over 70, at least an 11% premium increase, which is up to about $700 in addition to the amount that they’re already paying. Now, many of these people have paid for private health insurance over their whole lifetime have barely even claimed and now they’re reaching their 60s and 70s and they need to claim. The rug’s been pulled out from under their feet and we know from the government’s modelling that there’s going to be dropouts but what the government hasn’t said is how many people are going to downgrade their cover because they want to hang on to it but it means they’re not covered for key things that are treated in private hospitals so they’ll go public. |
| Clinton Maynard | So they may not have the gold cover, they may not even have the medium range cover, which means allied health services, for instance, they’re going to rely on the public system. |
| Rachel David | That’s exactly right. So the top levels of cover will cover you for things like joint replacements and some of the heart treatments, some of the heart valve replacements that people need as they get older. But if you drop down to a bronze or a basic level because you’re desperate to hang on to your health insurance, and a lot of people are, I mean, the public hospital waiting lists aren’t getting any shorter, then you will miss out on those things and you will actually need to be treated in a public hospital. |
| Clinton Maynard | So it will cost the government more in the long run? Is that your conclusion? |
| Rachel David | Yes, it will. And what we are arguing for is for the government to exempt people on pensions and the lowest income levels from this policy because they often, after a lifetime of struggling to pay their private health insurance, are really going to be kicked to the curb. |
| Clinton Maynard | Makes sense to me. Thank you for your time, Rachel. |
| * * END * * | |