Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026

Dr HAINES (Indi) (17:35): I'll make some brief remarks about this bill. I rise today to speak to the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026. Australians with private health insurance are entitled to a means tested rebate on their premiums.

It's available to individuals earning less than $164,000 per year and families earning less than $328,000 per year who receive between eight per cent and 24 per cent of their premiums back. There is an additional four per cent if the oldest person covered is at least 65 years of age, and another four per cent on top of that if they're 70 years of age or older.

This bill removes the additional rebates. Everyone will receive the same amount back on their private health insurance, depending on income but regardless of age. The government estimates that the reduction will save as much as $3 billion over four years, which will be redirected to aged care.

There's no argument that there is an urgent, desperate need for more aged-care funding, especially in communities such as mine in rural and regional Australia. We're simply not doing enough to meet the needs of an ageing population. So I welcome further investment in more beds, better packages and measures to reduce wait times.

However, I am concerned that the people who will be hit the hardest by a reduction in rebates are the very ones who can least afford it. In fact, that's exactly what the modelling shows. PBO analysis requested by the member for Kooyong, released today, confirms that about half of the $3 billion saving will come from age pensioners.

The very highest earners won't be affected by this change at all because they're not entitled to rebates in the first place. It's individuals and families on lower incomes, including pensioners, who will pay more for their insurance. I just can't see how that's fair.

The people who will feel the greatest pinch from the loss of these rebates are already grappling with higher costs. They're paying more at the supermarket, at the petrol pump and on their bills. The last thing they need is to have to find another couple of hundred dollars for their health insurance next year.

Some will manage by going without. Others have nothing left to cut. I've heard many stories now from constituents across my electorate who are looking at their budget and making those decisions as we speak.

They'll have no choice but to drop or downgrade their cover, which will affect how and when they access not just medical treatment but things like podiatry, optometry and dental care, with all the potential flow-on consequences for the entire healthcare system. The first question I ask when I'm considering legislation is, 'What will this mean for the people of my electorate of Indi?' Rural and regional Australians already have worse health outcomes than people living in major cities.

We have higher rates of chronic disease and a lower life expectancy—something I speak of often in this House. Our health services are already stretched and our public hospitals simply cannot accommodate any potential increase in demand. We have fewer health workers and fewer doctors out in rural and regional Australia.

The population of Indi is older than the national average. Almost a quarter of my constituents were aged 65 and over at the 2021 census. We also earn less on average than wealthier metropolitan electorates.

People in Indi with private health insurance are much more likely to rely on those additional rebates than in many other parts of the country. It's no surprise that I've heard from so many of the people that I represent, worried about how this change will affect them. They've worked hard, they spend carefully and they feel like the rug is being pulled out from under them at the very time they need it.

I don't think anyone disagrees that we need to invest more in aged care, but the government should not be going cap in hand to pensioners to fund it. And, while I welcome the intention to direct resources towards ensuring Australians have access to safe and dignified care through the aged-care system, in this case, I simply cannot support this bill.