| Publication: | The Australian |
|---|---|
| Date: | 10 September 2009 |
| Section: | Business with the Wall Street Journal |
Siobhain Ryan
Article excerpt:
THE Senate has dealt a $1.9billion blow to Kevin Rudd's health budget by rejecting plans to means-test taxpayer rebates for private health cover and increase levies on the non-insured. The Coalition, the Greens, independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Family First senator Steve Fielding combined to defeat the three budget bills, which would have raised health fund premiums for more than two million middle- to higher-income Australians.
... The Medicare levy surcharge was also to rise for singles earning more than $90,000 and families earning more than $180,000 who did not hold hospital cover, returning an extra $145 million in taxes over the same period. If passed, the changes would have raised policy costs for almost a quarter of all private health members. It was to be the second consecutive year of cuts to private health incentives, with the government last year raising the income threshold for the Medicare levy surcharge.
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