Medibank cost plea a bit rich: Howard
From AAP
04feb02
A REQUEST by Australia's largest health fund to increase premiums by 13 per cent sounds excessive, Prime Minister John Howard has said.
Medibank Private, which is owned by the federal Government, has asked permission to lift premiums because of a 60 per cent jump in pay-outs caused by the influx of new members, acording to a newspaper report today.
Up to one million new members were lured into the private health system by the Government's own health insurance changes, which included a 30 per cent rebate on private premiums and penalties for people who joined a fund over the age of 30.
Today's newspaper report warned the move for higher premiums would revive fears of a return to the big premium rises of the 1990s, which led to drops in membership.
This morning Mr Howard said he believed a rise of 13 per cent sounded "a bit rich, to say the least".
"Given that some of the other funds are looking at much lower increases, I have no doubt that the Health Minister Kay Patterson will look very carefully and with a justifiable degree of scepticism about the largest private health fund in the country wanting a 13 per cent increase," he told the Nine Network.
Mr Howard said the revival of private health was a two-way process requiring co-operation between the Government and the funds. "I say to the private health funds, the Government has given you a lot of assistance, we have provided you via the 30 per cent tax rebate with a great deal of additional business," he said.
"You have an obligation to make certain that you return full value to the Australian public."
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