Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brockman for his question. Private health insurance helps 13.5 million Australians. On 13 October this year, the Minister for Health announced the largest reforms to private health insurance to make it simpler and more affordable. The government has negotiated $1 billion worth of services with the medical devices industry, and younger Australians will benefit from discounted hospital premiums of up to 10 per cent and savings of up to $200 a year on a $2,000 policy. We will provide greater access to mental health services for people in regional and rural areas, with insurers offering travel and accommodation benefits. We are making private health insurance simpler by requiring insurers to categorise products as gold, silver, bronze and basic, with easy-to-use definitions. We will continue to support affordable health insurance via our private health insurance rebate, currently worth $6 billion a year. Our actions have helped to keep the pressure on private health insurers and help drive the lowest premium prices in 10 years—lower than any years under the Rudd and Gillard governments.

Can I just compare our record to Labor's record. The Labor Party wanted to rip out the heart of private health insurance with destructive cuts. You are ideologically driven in shutting down private health insurance. You would force millions of Australians, millions of Australian families, onto higher costs of private health insurance premiums. Before the 2007 election, we had all these promises by Nicola Roxon: 'We're not going to touch private health insurance.' As soon as you got into government, you cut, cut, cut— (Time expired)