The Health Minister has heard you, loud and clear

well done john , however more needs to be done, private health insurance needs a shake up. They apply for and get an increase every year with little or no extra benefits. Part of the problem is the difference between the schedule fee and what is actually charged. the difference can or is very much greater and the claim is based on the schedule fee only and not the actual charge. The difference can just about break the bank. I have been in a health fund for 50 years and now pay a 2% medicare levy and recently my partner had to go into hospital , the doctor gave us a cost which had to be paid in advance , after making the claim out out of pocket cost was $ 6.5 k , a hefty co contribution ,others may have come of worse in similar situations , and I don't expect not to pay something however why the high cost of premiums with their yearly premium increases and no increase in the schedule fee This needs to be reviewed. The focus seems to levelled at the baby boomers getting old unfortunately we all get old who will they blame when the next generation get old 

A big thank you John and Jess, it is good to have a place to have your say. 

I am close to retirement and currently privately insured. I went to a specialist this week - the charge was $250 and I got back $75. While I am working this is sustainable, however when I retire it wont be. I am currently working on my tax return at the moment and this year my out of pocket expenses were over $10k. on top of this is my medicare levy and my private health insurance costs - this equates to over $15K. how can I keep this up in retirement???? 

Well done John and Jess. Instead of having to introduce a co-payment purported to go towards medical research, the Government should have been thinking straight and realized that we should not be compelled to pay for medical research. Surely this is something we could decide for ourselves? This should be a choice we could make? This co-payment would affect so many low income earners, and rightly so they would appear at hospital emergency rooms to get treatment. This would put an enormous load on these facilities and what would happen eventually is that hospitals would need more funds to deal with this. Shortsightedness from Government Ministers in their attempt to bring the budget into surplus. As for health insurance providers, look for a not for profit one like Westfund that I have belonged to for approximately 10 years. They distribute profits to their customers, are quick to have your money back to you, and recently allowed me to pay an extra 12 months before the charges went up. We are already compelled to pay for new electricity wires because the electricity providers are putting in a top of the range system and they should be paying for this infrastructure themselves as part of their purchase. I am angered by this and the sale was obviously a quick cash grab only and again nothing in the purchase contract about infrastructure being the responsibility of the purchaser. In this day and age when everything is run by electricity we should be paying less, not more. 

Congratulations John in taking our voice to Canberra. I just hope that they will invoke the changes that they say they will do. I personally don't believe that now was the right time to introduce the co-payment of $7 anyway - at a time when we are looking to reduce the country's deficit the last thing that is needed is a charge that puts money away into a 'reserve' to pay for medical research. We are all going to be impacted immediately by other measures introduced by the Government. I believe that this levy (if absolutely required) could come later when the deficit is reduced and people are perhaps more able to pay for such a luxury. I also welcome the potential to get health funds to provide more information to members as to how the various percentage increases are applied each year on premium increases. 

Well, it all sounds well, but if your health is recalcitrant, at times you have to borrow money from the bank to pay for your Dr"s Bills AND the medication, there is no way you can live on the pension. My husband and I are over 83 - not to be recommended when your health is playing up. 

The ministers previous comment on why Health Funds increase by by up to 9.2% was a lot of nonsense, I have been in a private health fund for 40years and have the basic cover with no extras.My premiums have continued to to increase way above the recommended 6.5% so there is no substance in the ministers claim that increases are caused by older people taking on extras -another example of how out of touch our politicians are - exactly which planet are they living on, probably the one named" Look after No1, myself". 

is it not time that 410 visa holders who Have to have Private Health Care could get Medicare. You have probably never heard of the 410 Visa it might be worth looking it up on the computer, you will not believe what you are reading it will shock you. 

Thanks John for giving us fifty ups a voice in Canberra but like anything a pollie says is taken with a grain of salt. They have a habit of saying one thing and doing something else lets hope I'm wrong 

thanks john for for being the voice for us oldies in the fiftyup club,now maybe the government will listen to our concerns