18 July 2019 - The superannuation sector has warned Treasury that letting people use retirement savings to pay for private healthcare is not an appropriate response to the problem of those services being unavailable in the public system.

The Australian revealed yesterday that more than 30,000 requests for early access to superannuation to pay for health care were approved last financial year, twice as many as two years ago. The average amount released was almost $15,000, often spent on weight-loss surgery or IVF.

The superannuation sector, financial advisers and some health groups had previously called on Treasury to tighten the rules in order to protect the nest eggs but Treasury proposed only minor changes last year, saying “early access to superannuation could be beneficial in a world of finite government resources”.

Read The Australian article