Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Griff for his question. The government will be responding in due course to the Senate reports as they were tabled. But, in terms of the value and affordability of private health insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs, I'd like to assure Senator Griff that, when it comes to one of the terms of reference—i. the current government incentives for private health—I'm really happy, in the time that I have available, to run the senator through the significant reforms we as a government have already undertaken in this regard.

We have been committed to making private health insurance more affordable for the more than 13 million Australian families, younger people and older Australians who need it. The change in premium that has been announced in recent times is the lowest in 17 years. We know that every dollar matters. We discounted hospital premiums by up to 10 per cent, which younger Australians will benefit from. They'll be able to keep those discounts until they turn 40, and that could mean savings of $200 a year on a $2,000 policy. We're providing greater access to mental health services by allowing people to upgrade their cover and ensuring they no longer have to wait for up to months to access mental health services.

People in rural and regional Australia will now be able to access travel and accommodation benefits if they're forced to travel for treatment under their private health insurance, and we're making private health insurance simpler by requiring insurers to categorise products as gold, silver, bronze or basic. In the package, we've also announced flexibility for people to increase their maximum excess to assist in the reduction of their overall insurance premium. We're going to continue to support affordable health insurance via a private health insurance rebate, which is currently worth $6 billion a year.