Posted by Michael Wonder on 16 Jan 2018
Private health insurers should improve 'useless' products, not punish people who avoid them: AMA
16 January 2018 - The Australian Medical Association says private health insurers should address low quality and sometimes "useless" products instead of attempting to use punitive tax hikes to push people into taking up their policies.
In a submission to the Turnbull government's budget process, Private Healthcare Australia, the sector's peak body, has said the Medicare levy surcharge should be raised for high-income earners who do not have private health insurance.
The representative body said the surcharge should be "recalculated" to boost the incentive for the wealthy, recommending a change that would see the top rate lifted from 1.5% to 2%.
