Health Minister Mark Butler has told the ABC that the government will push ahead with its proposal to change private health insurance rebates for older Australians.

As announced in the federal budget, the change will remove the extra age-based rebate for people aged 65 and over, bringing their rebate into line with younger Australians on the same income.

The government says the savings will be redirected to aged care, including more aged-care beds.

The estimated impact on premiums is in the order of a few hundred dollars a year for many policyholders, though higher for some couples with expensive cover.

The proposed change has prompted the usual warning – if people over 65 pay more for cover, they will drop their insurance and flood public hospitals.

That sounds plausible.........

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