SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE

SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 23 September 2026

CANBERRA’S HEALTH COVER HIT WILL PUNISH WA PENSIONERS MOST

West Australian pensioners will be among the hardest hit by Labor's plan to axe the higher private health insurance rebate for older Australians, the state's two home-grown health funds have warned.

HBF and HIF told a Senate committee in Perth that Labor's plan to cut the rebate from 28 to 24 per cent for those aged 65 to 69 and from 32 to 24 per cent for those aged 70 and over would drive up premiums and force older members to cancel or downgrade their cover. They said the fallout would land on WA's public hospitals.

HIF chief product and marketing officer Christina Green told the committee that Western Australians had the most to lose: "That risk is greatest in Western Australia, which has the highest private health insurance participation rates in the country and the highest private share of hospital admissions."

Core Data research for HIF, referenced at the hearing, found 66 per cent of West Australians believe the change was "unfair" to older Australians. Only 27 per cent think it is fair. 59 per cent of respondents believe the change would hurt them or a family member.

The poll of 501 West Australians also uncovered the multigenerational impact of Labor's cut, with the cost potentially falling on younger family members. 42 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 54 would consider helping a parent or grandparent pay for their cover if the change goes ahead.

Ms Green said about 70 per cent of insured Australians aged 65 and over earned $55,000 a year or less. "So this is not a subsidy for the wealthy," she said.

HBF chief executive Lachlan Henderson said 271,000 HBF members would be hit - about a quarter of the fund's membership.

Dr Henderson said the Health Department's estimate that 44,000 Australians would cancel their cover nationwide was lower than HBF's own modelling suggested. In an HBF survey, 71 per cent of members aged 65 and over said they were very or extremely concerned.

HBF also warned a separate Government proposal to abolish Silver Plus policies would leave nearly half its affected older members with nowhere to go.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston said WA would pay the highest price.

"Western Australia has the highest rate of private health cover in the country. That makes WA pensioners Labor's biggest target," Senator Ruston said.

"HBF and HIF are telling us thousands of West Australians will cancel or downgrade their cover. Every one of them becomes another patient in a WA public hospital system already under enormous strain.

"These are people who did the right thing their whole working lives. Labor is punishing them for it.

"This is not just a hit to WA pensioners. Their children and grandchildren will be left picking up the bill,” Senator Ruston said.

Australia's leading medical specialists also urged the Albanese Government to abandon its planned cuts at the Perth hearing.

Representatives from five specialist bodies told the committee the change would delay care and leave older Australians in pain and living with disability and pile more pressure on overstretched public hospitals.

The warnings came from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Australian and New Zealand Society for Vascular Surgery, Private Cancer Physicians of Australia and the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons.

"When the specialists who treat cancer and repair failing arteries all say this cut will hurt patients, the Government must listen," Senator Ruston said.

"Older Australians who drop their cover will not stop needing scans, chemotherapy or surgery. They will simply join the back of the public hospital queue.

"This is an $11 billion tax grab dressed up as reform. It will not save money. It will shift the cost to the states and onto the shoulders of older Australians. The Coalition will fight to block these callous cuts in the Senate."

Health Department officials giving evidence could not explain the discrepancy between their estimate that 1.2 million pensioners would be hit by the cut and the Parliamentary Budget Office estimate that it was more than 1.5 million but they conceded the Government did not hold an accurate number.

A lived experience panel of older Australians also urged the Albanese Government to scrap its plan describing it as a "kick in the teeth and a slap in the face".

Older persons advocate Michelle said many West Australian seniors have expressed a "profound sense of betrayal by the Government".

"They feel helpless as the goalposts of a system they have financially supported for their entire adult lives are shifted the exact moment their medical needs are greatest. Removing this targeted support will profoundly compromise health care choices at a critical stage in life," she said.

ENDS