Senate debates Questions without Notice

Private Health Insurance


Jenny McAllister

Jenny McAllister NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme

2:01 pm

Our priority, as I indicated in response to a very similar question last week, is to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being spent to deliver the greatest benefit for older Australians. That does mean directing more funding into the care that people are relying on every day. In the budget in May, our government delivered $3 billion for more beds, for more aged-care packages, for better care. To help fund those investments in aged care, the government will return the private health insurance rebate for older Australians to the same rate that is available to other Australians on similar incomes. We do understand that that is a challenging decision. It's a challenging decision for government, but it is challenging for those people. It is challenging for older Australians, but there is a great deal to do to repair the aged-care system from the neglect that occurred under the Liberal coalition government over the last decade.

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