QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr BUTLER (Hindmarsh—Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing and Deputy Leader of the House) (14:37): If I can add to the Prime Minister's remarks, we deal, obviously, with this college, as we do all other colleges, very regularly, and they've been an important partner as we've rolled out the women's health package to which the member referred.

Most recently, I think, we've announced the centres of excellence to improve access and affordability for long-acting contraception, which has been an important piece of work we've done with that particular college. Like a number of stakeholders in the health sector, submissions have been made by colleges around the changes that we're proposing to the private health insurance rebate to the Senate inquiry that is still underway, as the member probably knows, and that is due to report in October.

We're tracking those submissions and the evidence that is being given. But let me briefly, in the time I have left, reiterate why we are doing this, which is to find necessary savings to fund more beds in aged care, more packages at home and better care, particularly changing the co-contribution arrangements—which I think have been advocated by the opposition, among others—around showering and other hygiene activities.

The changes that we make will restore the private health insurance rebate arrangements to their original design, which did not differentiate between members or private health insurance holders based on their age. They will treat households living next to each other based on their income equally. Also, a lot of the commentary, including by some of the medical colleges, about the impact of these changes on private health insurance membership is, frankly, we think, just wrong.

It doesn't reflect our modelling. It doesn't reflect independent modelling from the University of Melbourne. It tends simply to channel the pretty self-serving modelling we see from the insurance industry.