MEDIA STATEMENT
1 August 2026
Labor’s own Health Department has now confirmed what older Australians have been warning from the beginning: the Albanese Government’s health tax will force pensioners to cut back on essentials, downgrade their private health insurance or abandon their cover altogether.
Documents obtained through Freedom of Information reportedly show the department modelled scenarios in which low-income retirees could no longer afford their existing cover, including a pensioner who would be forced to rely on the public hospital system for a hip replacement.
The department also admitted there had been no consultation on the specific changes before they were announced.
This morning’s revelations in ‘The Australian’ demolish the Government’s claim that its policy will have only a minor impact.
New polling indicates almost 40 per cent of privately insured seniors in outer-suburban and regional communities would be more likely to drop their cover because of Labor’s changes.
Even state health ministers are now warning the Prime Minister that his policy will place further pressure on already stretched public hospitals, emergency departments and elective surgery waiting lists.
This is not simply an issue for Australians aged over 65.
When older Australians are forced out of private health insurance, more patients are pushed into the public system. That means greater pressure on emergency departments, longer waiting lists and fewer hospital resources available for every Australian who needs care.
More than 22 per cent of people in Fisher are aged over 65, making this policy particularly damaging for my electorate on the Sunshine Coast.
Many local retirees have paid for private health insurance throughout their working lives. They budgeted carefully and did the responsible thing, only to have the Albanese Government change the rules during their retirement.
From April 2027, Labor plans to abolish the additional Private Health Insurance Rebate available to older Australians. The rebate for people aged between 65 and 69 will be cut by four percentage points, while the rebate for people aged 70 and over will be cut by eight percentage points.
For some older couples with Gold hospital cover, that could mean paying more than $1,600 extra each year simply to retain the same policy.
Labor calls this intergenerational fairness. I call it punishing pensioners and shifting more pressure onto public hospitals.
That is why I launched my Stop Labor’s Health Tax on Seniors petition.
More than 9,500 Australians have already signed, and I am now calling on the community to help us reach 10,000 signatures.
Once we reach 10,000, I will personally march those signatures into the Prime Minister’s office and demand that he listen to older Australians, state governments and families across the country.
The Coalition will oppose these changes in the Parliament and continue fighting to protect the additional rebate for older Australians.
Older Australians deserve support to keep the health cover they have paid into for decades, not a new tax for doing the responsible thing.
Sign the petition at:
andrewwallacemp.com.au/stop-labors-health-tax-on-seniors/
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Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au
