Lost amongst the hype surrounding the carbon tax was the introduction of the Federal Government's long-proposed changes to private health insurance rebate.
The changes were first mooted in the 2009/10 Budget, where the Federal Government proposed to 'rebalance the level of support for private health insurance' by introducing three new 'Private health incentive tiers' for the purpose of the private health insurance rebate. These tiers are income tested.
It should be noted that these Bills had been rejected three times when introduced in previous Parliaments. The legislative package was finally introduced into the Parliament on 7 July 2011 and upon enactment, the new measures will apply from 1 January 2012.
Change to Medicare Levy Surcharge
As part of the legislative package, the rate of Medicare levy surcharge for individuals and families without private patient hospital cover may increase according to the level of surchargeable income.
This measure will also apply on and after 1 January 2012.
A summary of the proposed changes is included below:
Further information regarding the above changes can be found via
the following links:
Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2011
Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy
Surcharge) Bill 2011
Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge
- Fringe Benefits) Bill 2011
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