23 July 2019 - Australia should abolish Medicare and force people to take out private health insurance instead, according to the boss of one of the largest health funds, who argues it would solve an impending funding crisis in both the public and private sectors.

NIB managing director Mark Fitzgibbon's proposal - which one health economist slammed as "self-serving" - comes amid growing concerns about the sustainability of the private health insurance industry, as more healthy, young people abandon their cover, taking premiums that subsidise older members with them.

Mr Fitzgibbon on Tuesday said Medicare faced a similar demographic threat as private insurers, as the population aged and the ratio of taxpayers to retirees narrowed.

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