For hundreds of thousands of older Australians already struggling with rising living costs, the Albanese government's rollback of age-based private health insurance rebates is a painful budget savings measure.

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To those over 65 and those approaching retirement, it looks less like reform and more like a direct hit to their health security.

And the numbers show Tasmanian seniors are alarmed.

Fresh polling from Tasmanian insurer St Lukes, based on more than 3,680 members aged over 65, paints a bleak picture of community sentiment. An overwhelming 96 per cent of respondents said they were concerned about the rebate changes. Seventy-one per cent said the cuts would affect their ability to maintain private health insurance. Most concerning of all, 90 per cent said they lacked confidence they could access the care they needed through the public system if they lost cover.

The St Luke's poll shows, unlike the outrage over CGT changes, which is political theatre, this is genuine anxiety from older Australians who fear they are being squeezed out of a system they have paid into for decades.

Breaking down the figures, the changes would result in Australians aged 65 to 69 losing around four percentage points of rebate support, while those aged 70 and over would lose roughly eight percentage........

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