JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

Senator Anne Ruston
Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care
Senator for South Australia

Dr Anne Webster MP
Shadow Minister for Regional Health
Shadow Minister for Regional Communications
Federal Member for Mallee

Health Minister's own state the latest to oppose Federal Labor's health insurance rebate cut for over-65s

Monday 24 August 2026

SENATOR THE HON ANNE RUSTON

SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE

SENATOR FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL HEALTH

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

24 August 2026

HEALTH MINISTER’S OWN STATE THE LATEST TO OPPOSE FEDERAL LABOR’S HEALTH INSURANCE REBATE CUT FOR OVER-65S

The Albanese Government’s plan to cut private health insurance rebate for older Australians is in disarray as the South Australian Labor Government has become the latest state to oppose the cruel measure.

South Australia’s Labor Government joins New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania in opposing the cuts, all of them concerned about the effects on an already-overstretched public hospital system. Labor and Coalition alike, the state governments that actually run the nation’s hospitals have reached a critical mass of opposition to a change that shifts cost, not care.

South Australia’s Health Department told the Senate inquiry the federal case rests on a “simplistic measure” that fails to consider whether public hospitals can absorb the extra demand, warning it would lengthen elective surgery waitlists and strain services. This comes in the wake of Senate Estimates revelations from federal departmental officials that the impact of the cuts on state hospitals had not been modelled.

The insurance sector estimates 62,000 older Australians will drop their cover and around 200,000 will downgrade – well above the Government’s own figure of 44,000 – describing the change as a $3 billion cost shift onto older Australians that leaves the states almost $260 million a year worse off.

Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Senator Anne Ruston said the Government could no longer dismiss warnings coming from a majority of states – including the Minister’s own.

“When Mark Butler’s own home state Labor Government is telling him this policy does not add up, he has run out of people to blame,” Senator Ruston said. “This is not about politics. Labor states and Coalition states alike, the governments that run our public hospitals, are telling the Commonwealth the same thing.”

“These are Australians who worked, paid their taxes and kept their cover for decades – and Labor has decided they are an easy target,” Senator Ruston said. “They have been left behind by a Government happy to divide Australians by age and decide who pays more, with no mandate and without ever taking this policy to an election.”

In Canberra, the ACT Opposition today added its voice, calling on the Government to abandon the policy and consult the states and territories.

Shadow Minister for Regional Health Dr Anne Webster said the cut was especially dangerous for regional Australia.

“This policy is particularly dangerous for regional Australia, where private health services are already under pressure. Lismore shows how fragile regional private healthcare can be – when private services disappear, patients do not. They are pushed into the public system,” Dr Webster said.

“Regional hospitals are already struggling with workforce shortages, long waiting lists and limited specialist access. The last thing they need is Canberra pushing more patients into the public system. This is bad policy for older Australians, regional communities and everyone who relies on a public hospital,” Dr Webster said.

“The states themselves are telling Labor this cut will cost more than it saves and leave older Australians worse off,” Senator Ruston said. “It is time the Government scrapped it and stopped treating older Australians as its next revenue source.”

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