Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

It's an absolute pleasure to do this speech in front of so many of my colleagues. I am standing here today in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026. At its core, this bill is about something pretty simple. It's about making sure Aussies know what they are going to be paying for their health care. It's about giving people confidence in their private health insurance and it's about making sure the system is fair. Right now, for too many people, it unfortunately is not.

While we're focused on making the system fairer and more transparent, those opposite have been very clear about their views on Medicare. They have argued that the system is unsustainable and that more of the burden should fall on individuals. I've spoken to plenty of people across the Hunter who have walked out of a GP appointment with their referral to a specialist only to hesitate, not because they don't want the care but because they don't know what it's going to cost them. That uncertainty is a real problem. We know that more than 800,000 Australians have delayed or missed specialist care because of cost. That is not just a number. That is people putting off treatment, and that is conditions getting worse. It is families worrying about bills instead of focusing on getting better.

As somebody who serves as Special Envoy for Men's Health, I see this play out in a very real way. Blokes are already less likely to go to their doctor. They already tend to put things off. If you add in cost uncertainty on top of that, it becomes another reason to delay, another reason to say, 'I'll deal with this later.' I've had men in my electorate tell me straight up they did not follow through with a specialist appointment because they were worried about getting hit with a bill they just couldn't afford.

Tim, a young bloke from Kurri Kurri, told me he was referred to a cardiologist. He had a young family, a mortgage and rising bills. He asked what it would cost. He couldn't get a straight answer, so he waited. That's not good enough. Health care should not come with that kind of guesswork.

Alex from Morisset needed a knee procedure after years of working on the tools. He had private health insurance. He thought it was covered. But when he started asking questions, he realised that there were multiple gaps, with different fees for the surgeon, the anaesthetist and the hospital. He said, 'It felt like trying to price a job without a quote.' That's the reality that people are dealing with.

I will give you another example. I spoke with Pete from Cessnock, who had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Like a lot of men, he had not been for regular check-ups. When he finally did, it was serious. He did the right thing. He got the referral. He was ready to act. But when the questions came of how much it would cost, what is covered and what is not, he told me that he felt overwhelmed not just by the diagnosis but by the financial uncertainty that came with it. He said to me, 'I just want to focus on getting better and not having to worry about the bill.'

This is the kind of uncertainty that is not accidental. When more of the burden is pushed onto individuals and people are expected to navigate the costs on their own, this is exactly what happens. There is confusion, delay and people missing out on care. That's exactly why transparency matters so much, and it's exactly why this bill is actually trying to fix this. It improves transparency. It gives Australians access to clear, comparable information about what medical services actually cost. Through changes to the law, it allows the Medical Costs Finder website to publish real data on what specialists charge and what out-of-pocket costs patients can expect.

Importantly, this information will not rely on doctors voluntarily uploading it. We tried that, and it simply didn't work. Out of thousands of eligible specialists, only a handful chose to share their fees. That is not transparency. That is a system that leaves patients in the dark. This bill fixes it by using data we already have—medical data, hospital billing data, insurer data. It brings it together and makes it available so people can compare costs and make informed decisions.

We believe in strengthening Medicare and helping people navigate the system. Those opposite have argued that the current model cannot continue and that Australians will either have to pay more or face reduced access to care. This bill takes a much different approach. It puts the information in the hands of patients. That means someone in the Hunter can look up what a procedure might cost in Newcastle compared to somewhere else. They can see whether a doctor participates in gap-cover arrangements. They can understand what their insurer is likely to cover. This is common sense. It's something that people expect.

This bill also provides transparency around hospitals and insurers. It will show which doctors operate at which facilities. It will show which insurers have arrangements with those facilities, and it will show the proportion of policy-holders facing different out-of-pocket costs. All of that matters when people are making decisions about their health. At the same time, it protects patient privacy. No personal information will be published. This is about system transparency, not individual exposure. And there will be a process for medical practitioners to review and query the data that's published about them. So this is balanced. It's practical and it's most certainly overdue

I want to spend a bit more time on why this transparency matters in the real world. When people cannot see the cost up front, they're making decisions in the dark. They might pick the first specialist they referred to without knowing that there are more affordable ones right near them. They might assume their insurance will cover more than it actually does, or they might avoid care altogether. That's not a system working for patients. With better information, people can ask better questions. They can ring around; they can compare, and they can make a choice that suits their situation. That's empowering for patients. It also encourages fair pricing across the whole system, because when fees are visible, there is more pressure to keep them at a reasonable cost, and that benefits everyone.

I've spoken to a family in Singleton whose teenage daughter needed a specialist consultation. They were trying to do the right thing, following the medical advice they were given, and get Olivia the care she needed, but they were given very little clarity on the cost. They rang three different clinics and got three very different answers. They ended up delaying the appointment while they tried to work out exactly what they could and couldn't afford. That delay should not happen. Another local, a retiree, Jane from Branxton, told me she felt embarrassed about asking about the costs when speaking to a specialist office. She said she felt like she was being difficult just for wanting to understand how that bill worked. No-one should feel that way. Transparency should be the norm, not something people have to push for. This bill helps change that culture. It sends a clear message that patients have the right to know, and it makes that information easier to access.

The second part of this bill deals with something that has been chipping away at the confidence in private health insurance. That's a practice known as product phoenixing. It sounds technical, but it's pretty straightforward. An insurer closes a product and then opens a very similar one at a higher price or with reduced value, and they avoid proper scrutiny in this process. That is not fair on consumers. That is not fair for the people of the Hunter. People think they are comparing apples with apples, but they are not. It undermines trust. This bill closes that loophole. It requires insurers to seek approval for premiums, not just when they change an existing product but also when they introduce a new one and when they make changes that reduce the cover or the benefits. It brings those decisions under proper oversight. It also strengthens the process around premium approvals. It formalises the premium round. It introduces a clearer public-interest test. It allows the minister to ask for more information and require insurers to justify their applications. All of that is about one thing: making sure Australians are getting value for money.

I've had people in my electorate tell me they feel like their premiums keep going up but their cover does not feel like it's keeping up with that pace. The frustration is real. Families are making tough choices about what they can and can't afford, and, when they do pay for private health insurance, they want to know it's worth it. This bill helps rebuild that trust. It puts stronger checks in place, makes the system more transparent and makes insurers more accountable. I've also heard from younger families in Cameron Park who are weighing up whether to keep their private health cover at all. They are looking at rising premiums and uncertain benefits and wondering if it's worth it. If we want people to stay in the system, we have to make sure the system is fair and clear. This bill is part of that.

From a men's health perspective, transparency and confidence matter. We know that men are less likely to engage with the health system. We know they are more likely to delay. If we make the system clearer, simpler and easier to understand, we remove more barriers. We make it more likely that they will actually take that next step, book the appointment, follow through with treatment and get checked early instead of late. That saves lives. And it's not just about physical health. When people avoid care because of cost concerns, it adds to stress. It weighs on them. It affects their mental health as well. I've spoken to blokes who say they worry about their bills and it keeps them up at night. That's part of the picture too. Clear information helps take some of that pressure away. It gives people a sense of control, and that really does matter.

I also want to touch on the broader context. Health costs are one of the biggest pressures that people are feeling right now. The cost of living is tight. Families are budgeting carefully. When health costs are uncertain, it creates anxiety. This bill does not solve every issue in this system, but it's a practical step in the right direction. It gives people more control, more information and more confidence, and it holds parts of the system to account. That is what good reform should do. I want to go back to something very simple. If you were getting work done in your house, you would expect a quote. If you were getting your car fixed, you would expect a price. You would not agree to a job without knowing what the actual cost is going to be. But in health care too many people are asked to do exactly that—sign up for treatment without knowing the full picture. That is what this bill changes. It puts information back in the hands of patients. It gives them the ability to compare and contrast, to ask questions, to make choices and to make the system more accountable.

I've spoken to older residents in places like Cessnock and Singleton who are trying to manage on fixed incomes. They tell me they worry about needing specialist care, because they are not sure what it will cost them. That uncertainty should not be there. Health care should be about getting better, not about guessing what the bill will be. This bill helps address that. It strengthens Medicare by supporting better decision-making. It improves private health insurance by closing loopholes and increasing oversight. And it delivers on a clear commitment to transparency.

There is still more work to do on health. There always will be. But this is a solid step forward. It is practical. It focuses on the consumers and it responds to real issues that people are facing. As somebody who spends a lot of time talking to people about their health, especially men, who do not always engage early, I know how important it is to remove barriers. Cost uncertainty is a barrier. Lack of information is a barrier. This bill tackles both of those. It also sends a broader message about the kind of health system we want in this country—one that is fair, one that is clear and one that puts patients first.

At the end of the day, that is what this is all about. It is about patients. It is about helping people get the care they need when they need it without unnecessary stress or confusion. That is something that everyone in this House should support, and I really hope those opposite get onboard and support this, because at the end of the day the people in the Hunter and the people all around Australia want to see us work together. They want an opposition that works with us in government so we can make Australia a better and fairer place. That is why this bill is so important and that is why I support this bill. I commend the bill to the House.

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