St Lukes CEO Paul Lupo will next week take the concerns of thousands of Tasmanian members directly to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee as part of its inquiry into the Federal Government's proposed changes to the private health insurance rebate for Australians aged over 65.
Speaking at a joint media conference today with the Tasmanian Premier and Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Mr Lupo said the Sydney hearing represented a critical opportunity to ensure the voices of older Tasmanians and regional communities were considered before any recommendation was made on the legislation.
“We welcome the opportunity to put forward the concerns of our members and advocate for the interests of Tasmanians as part of this important inquiry,” Mr Lupo said.
“Tasmania has the oldest population in the country, some of the highest rates of chronic disease and an already stretched public health system. The impacts of these changes will be felt here sooner and more acutely than anywhere else.
“It is critical that the Committee fully understands the realities facing older Australians in regional communities and the flow-on implications for healthcare access and public hospital demand.”
The appearance follows member research from St Lukes revealing overwhelming concern among older Tasmanians about the proposal.
More than 3,700 members aged 65 and over responded to a survey, with 96 per cent concerned about the changes, 71 per cent saying it would affect their ability to maintain private health insurance, and 90 per cent lacking confidence they could access the care they need through the public health system if they lost cover.
Many are living on fixed incomes – with 77 per cent of survey respondents earning less than $55,000 a year, including 32 per cent earning less than $30,000 a year – and they are worried they will be forced to downgrade or abandon their cover altogether.
Mr Lupo said the proposal risked creating significant unintended consequences for Tasmanians, where private health insurance played a critical role in supporting healthcare capacity.
“In Tasmania, around 70 per cent of planned admissions and elective surgeries occur in private hospitals, while private health insurance helps fund more than 100,000 hospital admissions each year,” he said.
“If older Tasmanians leave the private system, demand does not disappear, it simply shifts directly onto an already overstretched public health system through longer wait lists, increased demand and reduced access to care.
“This is not just a private health insurance issue. It is a whole-of-health-system issue.”
Mr Lupo questioned whether the Federal Government's intergenerational equity analysis had adequately considered the real-world impacts on older Australians, particularly those living in regional communities.
“The Government's analysis appears to assess the distribution of rebate expenditure as a budget decision, but the human consequences are far more complex,” he said.
“The question is whether it adequately considered differences in healthcare uses, exposure to fixed incomes, the capacity of retirees to rebuild savings, the availability of healthcare services in regional areas and the consequences for public hospital demand.
“These are critical considerations for Tasmania, and indeed regional Australia.”
Mr Lupo said Tasmania often served as an early indicator for issues that would later emerge across regional Australia.
“That is why we will be taking Tasmania's concerns directly to the Committee next week and advocating strongly for regional communities throughout this process," he said.
“While we welcome the opportunity to appear before the Committee in Sydney, we continue to call on the Committee to consider holding a hearing in Tasmania so local people can share firsthand the impact these changes could have on their healthcare, financial security and access to services.”
As Tasmania’s leading not-for-profit health and wellness organisation, Mr Lupo said St Lukes would continue advocating strongly on behalf of its 100,000-plus members and the broader Tasmanian community.
“Older Australians have done exactly what successive governments have encouraged them to do, maintaining their private health insurance over decades, helping to reduce pressure on public hospitals and contributing significantly to the sustainability of our healthcare system,” he said.
“It is entirely un-Australian to penalise them for doing the right thing.”
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Media contact: Jacquie Ray | Timmins Ray Public Relations | 0429 683 779