PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Dr RYAN (Kooyong) (12:09): Australia's private health insurance system is far from perfect. Every year we pay more and we get less. There is a very good case for better regulation of the private health insurance industry in Australia, but that is not what the government is attempting here.

More than 160 of the 171 submissions to the Senate inquiry into this bill to reduce the private health insurance rebate for over-65s opposed the legislation in its current form. That is 94 per cent of submissions that opposed the bill. Only seven submissions supported the bill.

Nearly every major medical and health stakeholder opposes this bill in its current form. That includes the Australian Medical Association, Australian Private Hospitals Association, Private Healthcare Australia, National Seniors Australia and the Council on the Ageing. Doctors, hospitals, insurers, health experts, seniors organisations, consumer advocates, state governments, pensioners and self-funded retirees all oppose this bill.

The overwhelming concern is not protection of wealthy retirees, as the minister would have us believe. It is about the impact on older Australians who are living on fixed and modest incomes. Pensioners and modest self-funded retirees are facing rising living costs, rising insurance premiums, rising out-of-pocket medical costs and growing healthcare needs.

Many of these individuals have maintained their private health insurance for decades in good faith. They have paid their premiums throughout their working lives, often when they had little need for the system. They made that choice because the governments encouraged them to take responsibility for their own health care and because they were trying to do the right thing to reduce pressure on the public hospital system.

Now, as they enter that stage of life when their health care needs are increasing, their health insurance is set to go up by hundreds of dollars every year. This government is arguing people won't drop their cover because demand is price inelastic, but price inelasticity doesn't mean that the cost is easier to bear. It just means that people are going to have to sacrifice essentials rather than go without their health care.

Retirees in Kooyong are already telling me that they are cutting back on meals, entertainment, travel and other expenses to afford the rising cost of health care. This private health insurance rebate hit is another hit when they're already struggling with a slow, hostile and opaque aged-care system. Evidence to the Senate inquiry said that pensioners could make up more than half of those who are projected to have to drop their cover because of this bill.

In fact, the bill will affect those people who are least able to absorb the additional cost of care. The concern is not just that people will cancel their insurance; it's that they're going to be forced to downgrade. Some modelling suggests that 200,000 people could be forced to downgrade their gold cover as a result of this legislation.

The government is not releasing its modelling, despite repeated requests that it does so. Downgrading from gold to silver means losing insurance cover for your cataract surgery, your hip replacement, your knee replacement, insulin pumps, sleep studies, rehabilitation and mental health treatments. It's going to push people into the public system or it will lead them to forgo care altogether.

We know that delayed and forgone care can carry serious downstream implications. It's not just public hospitals I'm worried about. Private hospitals perform the majority of elective surgeries in this country.

Many are already operating on very thin margins. ABS data shows that the sector recorded its first ever full year operating loss in 2023-24. At least 80 private hospitals have closed in this country since 2020.

That includes maternity services, mental health services and general acute services. This bill will accelerate that trend. It's not a saving; it's a transfer.

Every dollar taken off the rebate resurfaces as a longer wait for a hip replacement, another private hospital closing or a state government that has to foot a bigger public hospital bill. I support the almost unanimous calls to ensure that pensioners and low-income retirees are protected from this legislation. And, yet again, I am calling on the government to release the full modelling for this bill, including what proportion of savings will be achieved from short-changing pensioners and vulnerable low-income retirees.

I want the government to release its modelling on the impacts on waiting times and the demand on public and private hospitals. I want it to be honest with older Australians. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Fernando ): I understand the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into Hansard, in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.