Politics · Australia · 10 hrs ago
Senate blocks Labor plan to cut older Australians’ health insurance rebate
Australia’s Senate blocked Labor’s plan to reduce the private health insurance rebate for people over 65.
The proposal would remove the larger rebate older people receive, including an extra benefit for those aged 70 and over.
Labor said the change would save the federal budget $3 billion from April 2027 and help fund aged care.
The Greens said they would support the plan only if pensioners were exempt, while the Coalition and other senators also helped block it.
The government’s modelling estimates almost 80,000 older Australians could drop private cover by 2028–29 because of the change.
State health ministers have warned that losing private cover could add pressure to public hospitals, while older people’s advocates say pensioners should not have to choose between healthcare and everyday costs.
Health Minister Mark Butler says Labor will reintroduce the same bill on Thursday, and the Greens have invited the government to discuss a pensioner exemption.
The Senate blocked Labor’s bill to reduce the private health insurance rebate for people aged 65 and over.
The Greens said they would support the changes only if pensioners were exempted, while the Coalition and other senators also opposed the bill.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the government would reintroduce identical legislation on Thursday.
The proposed changes, due to take effect in April 2027, were expected to save the federal budget $3 billion.
Health department modelling estimated almost 80,000 older Australians would drop private health cover by 2028-29 under the proposal.
- Who
- The Albanese government, led on the bill by Health Minister Mark Butler, and senators including the Greens, Coalition and crossbench.
- What
- The Senate blocked a bill to reduce the private health insurance rebate for people aged 65 and over. Butler said the government would reintroduce it.
- When
- The bill was blocked on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Butler said it would be reintroduced on Thursday.
- Where
- The Australian Senate.
- Why
- The Greens said they would support the changes only if pensioners were exempted. The proposal aimed to save $3 billion for the federal budget.
Labor government
Greens and Coalition
Rebate changes
Labor government
The government said the changes would make the rebate fairer and help fund aged care.
Greens and Coalition
The Greens would support the changes only if pensioners were exempted; the Coalition opposed the proposal and sought to scrap it.
Senate action
Labor government
Butler said the bill should receive a proper debate and vowed to reintroduce it.
Greens and Coalition
The Greens, Coalition and other senators joined to have the bill discharged from the Senate.
The government announced cuts to the automatic private health insurance rebate for people over 65 in the budget.
Anne Ruston and Jacqui Lambie moved a motion to discharge the bill from the Senate.
The Senate discharged the bill after support from the Coalition, Greens, One Nation and independent senators.
Butler said the government would reintroduce identical legislation.
The proposed changes were due to take effect.
- Proposed budget saving
- $3 billion
- Proposed start date
- April 2027
- People expected to drop private cover
- Almost 80,000 older Australians by 2028-29
- Pensioners proposed for carve-out
- 1.2 million, according to David Shoebridge
- Government’s stated aged care plan
- Use the savings to provide 5,000 additional aged care beds per year
2 sources
What people are saying
It is important that the parliament have a proper debate, that these really important questions for older Australians are not held hostage to political stunts, but instead that the elected members of the House of Representatives and elected senators take these issues seriously and debate them properly
This afternoon we saw the resurrection of the ‘no-alition’ under the new leadership of David Shoebridge, a partnership that is determined to thwart the agenda of the government without debate
We will pass it in a heartbeat. But we will not be joining with Labor to punch down on pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Until the government’s prepared to be transparent so that Australians can see: whether this really is a save; who it’s going to be impacted; and how much they’re going to be impacted by. I think the government should do that before they come back and ask the Parliament to consider anything further