NSW New Levies and Fines for Health Insurers

Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024

12 Nov 2024: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

health insurance healthcare funding insurance levies tax rates

Introduced by: The Hon Courtney Houssos MLC (ALP); The Hon Ryan Park MP (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

If Health insurance companies don’t know how many people have policies with them and therefore can’t pay the levies they owe the state govt, they are now required to just guess, pay that, and sort it out later.
Minor Changes to the rules governing the NSW State Govt Ambulance Insurance scheme which is separate to NSW Ambulance membership but basically does the same thing. The rule changes mean health insurance companies who collect premiums for Ambulance Insurance need to pay the ambulance levy for the relevant people to the state govt. They will now face fines if they collect premiums for that and dont pass them on; also the levy rates can be set by regulation now instead of requiring law changes to update them
Health insurers that try and cheat the state government out of levies they owe will face new fines of up to 50 penalty units (2026: $5,500)
the actual levy rates will be set by regulations, which are typically created and adjusted by the relevant government department or agency. In this case, the Minister for Health

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Aileen MacDonald LIB

“I resume my contribution to debate on the Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024. Before I address the broader flaws of the bill, I feel compelled to respond to my colleague from The Greens, Ms Abigail Boyd. She gave us quite the Robin Hood fantasy, but I think we need to be brought back to reality.”

Official source →

Mark Latham IND

“I oppose the Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024 on several fronts. The first, and most financially responsible, is that I will not support any revenue grabs by this Government until it gets serious once again about expenditure cuts. The budget is in crisis.”

Official source →

Scott Farlow LIB

“I contribute to debate on the Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024. Unlike the Treasurer or the Leader of the Government, I have been pretty consistent. I was out there doorknocking against the Hon. Mark Latham and such policies in 2004. I support the comments of the Hon. Damien Tudehope and other members of the Coalition in opposing Mookhey’s mega tax.”

Official source →

Daniel Mookhey ALP

“Damien Tudehope, Ms Abigail Boyd, the Hon. Cameron Murphy, the Hon. Chris Rath, the Hon. John Ruddick, the Hon. Susan Carter, Dr Amanda Cohn, the Hon. Aileen MacDonald, the Hon. Mark Latham and the Hon. Scott Farlow. I listened very carefully to the contributions made by all the members. It was a spirited and fascinating debate.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Second Reading Speech, Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024

Mr RYAN PARK, Minister for Health — 2024-10-15

The Health Insurance Levies Amendment Bill 2024 provides for an increase in the prescribed rate of the health insurance levy. The purpose is to recover revenue being lost because health insurers are not paying the full single room rate when their members stay in single rooms in public hospitals. Health care can be an emotional issue. I know it is for me and for many members in this place. Insurance schemes are notoriously complicated and open to interpretation and argument, so let me begin with some facts. The average cost for public health to accommodate a private patient in a single room is $1,075 per day. The current single room rate gazetted for New South Wales public hospitals is $928 per night, which is obviously lower than the cost and represents about a 17 per cent subsidy.