In the Budget 2009–10, the Federal Government announced that it would introduce three new ‘Private Health Insurance Incentive Tiers’ which withdraw the concessions allowed as a person’s income rises through the tiers.

The package of 3 Bills was defeated in the Senate but the Bills (including the Fairer Private Health Insurance Incentives Bill 2009 [No. 2]) have been re-introduced by the Government.

If passed, from 1 July 2010, the three new Private Health Insurance Incentive Tiers will be:
• Tier 1: singles with income for surcharge purposes of more than $75,000 per annum and couples/families with income for surcharge purposes of more than $150,000 per annum (based on current projections) and who hold a complying private health insurance policy, will have their private health insurance rebate reduced by 10 percentage points. The Medicare levy surcharge will remain at 1 per cent for those singles and couples/families that do not hold appropriate private health insurance.
• Tier 2: singles with income for surcharge purposes of more than $90,000 per annum and couples/families with income for surcharge purposes of more than $180,000 per annum and who hold a complying private health insurance policy, will
have their private health insurance rebate reduced by 20 percentage points. The Medicare levy surcharge will be increased by 0.25 percentage points for those singles and couples/families that do not hold appropriate private health insurance.
• Tier 3: singles with income for surcharge purposes of more than $120,000 per annum and couples/families with income for surcharge purposes of more than $240,000 per annum and who hold a complying private health insurance policy, will
no longer receive any private health insurance rebate. The Medicare levy surcharge will be increased by 0.5 percentage
points for those singles and couples/families that do not hold appropriate private health insurance.