Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Likewise, the government opposes this amendment very strongly, because Lifetime Health Cover not only has been a policy of the government’s since July 2000 but also is a plank of private health in this country. You have to provide for protection against people who are hit-and-run in the way they approach private health cover—who, in their younger years, may not be a member of a private health fund but, when they are approaching their older years and might need it, suddenly join. If everybody did that, the premiums for private health cover would just rocket. So we are trying to get younger people to join private health at an earlier stage and that is the principle behind Lifetime Health Cover.

We need people to think in terms of looking after themselves where they are able to. You have the public health system there to look after those very people. But the government’s attitude is: ‘If you can look after yourself more than adequately, why should you be a burden on the taxpayer if you can provide for that self-sufficiency? We encourage you to do it earlier and plan your life accordingly.’ I would even say to young people who think that they don’t need it, ‘You never know what is around the corner.’ Private health cover is something that I would recommend to any young person who is embarking on their working career. This plank of Lifetime Health Cover is essential, and the government is opposed to this amendment.