Mark Butler defends Labor’s health insurance rebate changes as govt faces pressure to negotiate with Greens

Mark Butler has defended Labor’s health insurance rebate changes for older Australians as the government faces pressure to negotiate with the Greens to pass the failed legislation.

Labor will need to find common ground with the Greens or risk another parliamentary setback after its health insurance rebate bill failed to progress, with the government seeking to remove a long-standing aged-based subsidy for pensioners.

Speaking on Sunrise on Friday morning, the Health Minister argued the reintroduced legislation would restore fairness to the rebate system and generate savings to help fund growing demand for aged care services.

When asked how much money pensioners would lose out on, Mr Butler said “it depends on your policy, but the average policy would result in a change of about $250 a year or about 70 cents per day”.

“There’s no proposal to scrap any rebates, the vast bulk of Australia... would continue to have about a quarter of their private health insurance bill paid for by the government under our proposal,” Mr Butler told host Natalie Barr.

“What would change is that a small topper was introduced by John Howard, which only applies to over 65s, would be removed, so that two households next door to each other would receive exactly the same support for their private health insurance, no matter what their age, if they’re on the same income.”

Deputy Opposition leader Jane Hume warned the changes could push older Australians out of private health insurance and place additional pressure on the public health system.

“That means around 77,000 older Australians, some of whom are pensioners, simply will move from the private health system to the public health system,” Ms Hume said.

“So you’re essentially shifting the costs from people that are funding themselves for their health, to the public system. So the taxpayer is going to pay some way or another.”

Ms Hume suggested the government should look for savings elsewhere, including by reducing subsidies for green hydrogen, electric vehicles and other climate-related programs, as well as considering funding for national housing initiatives.

“Why would you rip it away from pensioners? Why would you rip it away from old people that have funded their own private health insurance, all of their lives, and now when they needed the most, you’re making it more expensive for them,” The Deputy Opposition leader said.