Young people set to benefit from new health insurance change

The extension of family health cover to include young Australians until age 31 “reflects the reality of the current times”.

The change means young people will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance later than ever before.

Spokesperson for the Consumer Health Forum, Mark Metherell, said while it would benefit some, there were some concerns.

“From an overall health policy point of view, this is going to benefit fewer than 45 per cent of the population,” he told Heidi Murphy filling in as host on 3AW Drive.

“It reflects the reality of the current times, particularly with COVID and a lot of unemployed young people can’t afford to live away from home, and if they do they are stretched, face very high housing prices.”

He questioned what it meant for the health system overall.

“I think this is probably largely an attempt by the health insurance industry to try and stem the continued decline of younger members while they are battling with more costly older members.”

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