The percentage of Australians between the ages of 20 to 39 with private health insurance has fallen from 40% to 34% over the past five years. During the same period, older Australians have been claiming more on than their health insurance than ever. Private Healthcare Australia has put forward a number of proposals to the federal government aimed at stemming the exodus of young people from private health insurance, including introducing fringe benefit tax exemptions for employers who wish to buy health insurance cover for their staff. From The Australian:
“Many have described the health insurance system as facing a death spiral,” says Stephen Duckett, health program director at the Grattan Institute.
“As younger people drop out, the people left are older. Those people are going to use healthcare more than average; that then forces up the premiums, then more younger people drop out because the premiums have gone up, and the risk pool gets older, and so premiums go up more, and so this spiral continues”…
