\u201cFor me private health insurance is free basically,\u201d Prof Stephen Duckett from the Grattan Institute told Leon Byner on FIVEAA. \u201cBecause if I didn\u2019t have it, I\u2019d be paying way more in a tax penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tax penalty can be 1.5-2 per cent on your taxable income, and that can add up.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, if you decide sometime in the future you want to come back in again to health insurance, your premiums are going to be much more because the minimum premium goes up with your age of entry into the fund,\u201d Prof Duckett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is happening across Australia is actually people aren\u2019t dropping out of health insurance with the premiums going up, what they\u2019re doing is dropping their level of cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Duckett warned consumers about the dangers of \u201cjunk health insurance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be really careful of looking at what are the so-called exclusions in those policies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n