‘Small pleasures’ sacrificed for health insurance slug

Lucinda Garbutt-Young | October 15, 2026

Mary Parsissons will forgo “simple pleasures” such as lunch with friends in her determination to keep paying for private health insurance.

The 83-year-old retired nurse is among millions of older Australians who will lose their additional private health insurance rebate if a controversial government bill gets through. 

The plan would mean those over 65 get means-tested rebates like the rest of the nation, saving the government about $3 billion over four years. 

They will pay about $250 per year more because of the changes, government modelling shows.

The increase will be more for people with higher-level cover.

Ms Parsissons, who has paid for private health with her husband for six decades, said the changes would rid her of “simple pleasures” such as lunch out with friends or going to the movies. 

“At my age, I should be allowed small pleasures every now and again,” the Hobart woman said. 

Health Minister Mark Butler said the change was “responsible and fair” as he reintroduced the bill on Thursday.

It was effectively booted from parliament by the coalition and crossbench in the Senate on Wednesday. 

But Mrs Parsissons said many people her age would no longer be able to afford to pay for insurance, meaning they would languish in the public health system and clog hospitals. 

“Being able to go into hospital as a private outpatient and be diagnosed and treated is worth every penny in private health,” she told AAP, noting some seniors would lose their sense of agency if they could no longer afford to pay. 

The plan would affect many pensioners as the rebate reduction would be calculated based on income in the same way it is for other Australians. 

“The government is committed to moving ahead with this bill,” Mr Butler said. 

Liberal Senator James Paterson said the reintroduction of the bill showed the government’s “contempt for the Senate”.

“This is a particularly cruel cut – a cut of $3 billion to older Australians who are taking out private health insurance, and in doing so, taking pressure off the public system,” he told News24. 

“These are people who don’t have a lot of spare cash, but value their health.”

Older Australians had “done the right thing” by paying their taxes but were being punished because Labor couldn’t control its spending, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said. 

“Wake up, do the hard yards up here instead of doing easy targets like our elderly,” she told reporters on Thursday. 

The coalition and Greens have indicated they may push the bill through if pensioners are protected, but both have made clear they will not budge without comprehensive carve-outs. 

“There is a pathway through on this legislation, but we insist on not taking about $1 billion from 1.2 million pensioners in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” Greens leader David Shoebridge told News24. 

Australians caught in the crossfire were feeling scared by the volatility of the bill, National Seniors Australia chief executive Chris Grice said.

Almost a quarter of respondents to a survey by the organisation said they would need to draw on savings to cover health insurance costs. 

Others would scrap their insurance and move onto the public system. 

“There is significant uncertainty about the impact of the cut on private and public hospitals and on the health of our older Australians,” Mr Grice said.