27 July 2018 - The health insurance industry regulator and Department of Health have privately raised concerns that Labor’s proposed cap on premium increases would threaten the financial viability of some insurers.

The Australian this week revealed a departmental analysis for Health Minister Greg Hunt concluded that enforcing a two per cent, two-year cap, and the flow-on ­effects, were likely to require a public interest test and explanation to parliament.

“If a premium change is not approved, it is possible that the organisation will have to restructure their investment strategy, renegotiate funding arrangements with doctors (possibly resulting in a higher out-of-pocket expense for consumers), lower dividend payments to investors, or restructure their products to remove high cost items,” the analysis states.

Read The Australian article