Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 3:01:53 to 3:05:29
Senator Ruston requests data on the impacts of private health insurance changes on public hospital demand and membership trends post-2028.
Topics: Health, Government spending
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, Ellie Whiteaker, Blair Comley, Dr Zoran Bolevich
Thank you, Senator Whitten. I will shortly give the call to Senator Ruston. That will likely be the last set of questions on this outcome, subject to any other senators wandering into the room wishing to ask questions, as is there right. So I thought I would just foreshadow that ahead of time. And to you, Senator Rusty.
Thank you. Yesterday some of your um uh officials said that they would take away and consider about providing me with some data that I was asking for in relation to the impacts of private health insurance changes, most particularly on numbers um dropping PHI, numbers downgrading PHI and the impact on public hospital demand in the years post 2028-29. I just wondered whether that had been able to be achieved.
I think we're still taking it on notice, uh, we'll take the question on notice.
Well, if you're taking it on notice, I um you're taking it on notice. Um do you have a time frame in which you would be prepared to um commit to um providing the data or providing me with a public interest and meeting the claim as to why you're not providing it?
Well, we would generally abide by the usual timed over and deadline for submitting questions on notice. I'd be chair read out at the start, but I I cannot recall what it was, but we would abide by that deadline.
So we're in a situation where potentially we could be asked to vote on a piece of legislation that relates to this, and you you are gonna use the cover of an estimates questions on notice deadline to potentially not provide that information. Um can I just perhaps put on notice that I will be pursuing alternative means by which to get this information before the representatives of the Australian public are required to vote on this, so maybe you could have a little bit of a think about if there's some other way you might be able to see your way clear to provide this vital information um prior to the last two weeks in November. Um if not, um maybe you could provide the legal reason why you're not. So I'm happy to leave it there and leave it in your hands.
Thank you, Senator.
Uh AAIHW.
Hi, how are you?