Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Given that more than 50 per cent of the income for major private health insurance companies comes from their investment portfolios, and given that Treasury advice notes that more than half a million Australians will drop out of private health insurance as a direct result of the government’s changes to the Medicare levy surcharge, will the minister—as a responsible minister for prudential regulation—guarantee that private health insurers are in sound financial condition?

Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the shadow minister for the question. It is a serious question and a serious issue. I do not think it is appropriate in the House for us to be doing anything that would be unnecessarily scaring the markets. We on this side of the House take very seriously that the regulation not just of the health insurance industry but of a range of other insurance and banking industries needs to be taken care of in this difficult time.

I am not going to try to answer this on the run, because I think that it is far more important to make sure that we dignify what is a serious question, in difficult financial circumstances, with a careful response. I will consult with both the Treasurer and our minister responsible for prudential regulation in the other place to see if there are any issues that are of current concern to the health industry.