The government has plans to spend $19.5 million dollars over the next four years to fund a range of initiatives to improve the accessibility and affordability of private health insurance for Australians.
Below is a summary of the initiatives:
- Increasing the maximum age of dependants allowed under family policies from 24 years to 31 years and removing the age limit for dependants with a disability. This should assist those families with older-age students and family members with disabilities.
- Funding enhancements to the Medical Costs Finder website to include voluntary fee disclosure for specialists, to increase the transparency of out-of-pocket costs.
- Improving accessibility of home and community-based care via private health insurance, commencing with mental health and general rehabilitation services.
HIF Executive Leader, Justin James said, “These new reforms are a welcome addition to this year's Federal Budget for the private health industry.
Acquiring and retaining a younger cohort of private health members is more important than ever to help ensure health care is easily accessible to all, and to help maintain the balance between the public and private health care systems.
We also welcome the other reforms outlined in this year's budget and look forward to helping more and more Australians access private health cover.
These proposed updates will be part of a second wave of reforms that are set to be in market by the 1st of April 2021.
For more information on the Federal Budget and its outlined private health initiatives please visit : https://budget.gov.au/.