Guy Barnett voted very strongly against decreasing the private health insurance rebate

The majority voted against a motion that the bills be read for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill needs to pass through before becoming law here. ) This means that the majority disagreed with the main idea of the bills and that they will not be proceeding.

Background to the bills

The three bills are:

• the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009;
• the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009; and
• the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009.

They were introduced as a package to create three private health insurance tiers in order to:

• reduce the amount of private health insurance rebate eligible taxpayers with complying private health insurance are entitled to when their income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold;(Read more about the proposed reduction of the rebate in the bills digest (419 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009.

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• increase the rate of Medicare levy surcharge for certain taxpayers who do not have complying health insurance and whose income for surcharge purposes is above the relevant Medicare levy surcharge threshold.(Read more about the proposed increase in the rate of Medicare levy surcharge the bills digest (339 KB) for Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2009 and the bills digest (346 KB) for the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives (Medicare Levy Surcharge - Fringe Benefits) Bill 2009.)

The majority voted against amendments introduced by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.

Senator Nettle explained that these amendments "abolish the private health insurance rebate". She argued that this money used to pay this rebate "should be redirected and instead spent on our public healthcare system".(Read Senator Nettle's full explanation of these amendments here. )

Because the majority voted against these amendments, they were unsuccessful.

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to allow the federal government to sell its interest in Medibank Private Limited and allow Medibank to operate on a “for profit” basis. The Coalition Government plans to do this after the 2007 election, should it be re-elected.(Read more about this privatisation proposal on Wikipedia here and on the ABC's World Today program here.)

The majority voted against amendments introduced by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.

Senator Nettle explained that these amendments "abolish the private health insurance rebate". She argued that this money used to pay this rebate should be "spent on ensuring that we have a quality public health system that all Australians can use".(Read Senator Nettle's full explanation of these amendments here. )

Because the majority voted against these amendments, they were unsuccessful.

Background to the bill

The bill expands the powers of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman when dealing with complaints and conducting investigations on their own initiative or at the Minister’s request, particularly in relation to health care providers or brokers. It also allows additional time for Medicare Australia to provide the Australian Taxation Office with information regarding private health insurance rebates.(Read more about the bill in its bills digest (84.4 KB).)