Post Implementation Review – Department of Health
On 1 July 2012 Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives commenced. This measure affected higher income earners by both reducing the Australian Government Rebate on private health insurance (the Rebate) and increasing the Medicare Levy Surcharge for people without private health insurance. On 29 April 2009 the then Prime Minister granted an exemption from the requirement to prepare a Regulation Impact Statement. Consequently, a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) was required.
The PIR was completed by the Department of Health on 30 April 2017 and assessed as compliant by the Office of Best Practice Regulation. The PIR found the introduction of the incentives reduced the cost to government of the Rebate without reducing the proportion of people covered by private health insurance. However, the savings achieved were lower than expected for the first two years after commencement.