Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I sat and listened to Senator Adams in silence. I would appreciate the same courtesy, Senator Cormann. We have heard all of these arguments before. They did not come to fruition last time. In fact, my understanding is that maybe the change has actually resulted in a slight increase in the number of people taking out private health benefits.

I think there are some important facts that need to be brought to the table in this debate. I have talked about some of the difficult economic circumstances that we find ourselves in. Currently approximately 14 per cent of single taxpayers who have incomes above $74,000 receive about 28 per cent of the total public health insurance rebate paid to singles. Under the new reforms that we are proposing, these single taxpayers will receive about 12 per cent of the total public health rebate paid to singles. Similarly, approximately 12 per cent of couple taxpayers who have incomes above $150,000 currently receive approximately 21 per cent of the total public health insurance rebate paid to couples. Under the new reforms, these couple taxpayers will receive about nine per cent of the total public health rebate paid to couples.

Another important factor in this debate is the Treasury modelling. It estimates that, under the reforms that the government is proposing as part of the current budget, 99.7 per cent of people are expected to remain in private health insurance. So there is almost no change to the system, based on the Treasury modelling that the government has done on this issue. The reason for this is that the higher income earners who receive a lower rebate will face a higher tax penalty avoiding— (Time expired)