Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025

Public bill · Government · Presented

Sets new risk-equalisation payments for private health insurance from 1 April 2026, including age-related credits, hospital-use credits and the percentage used to define high-cost claims. It also updates the stamp duty charges insurers pay so the scheme continues to balance out the extra cost of covering older or less healthy customers, and it adjusts the term of office for the Chair of the Health Insurance Authority. This matters because it helps keep private health insurance prices more even across members and keeps the funding system for those credits working as intended.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to amend the Health Insurance Act 1994 to specify the amount of premium to be paid from the Risk Equalisation Fund in respect of certain classes of insured persons from 1 April 2026; to make certain other amendments to that Act, including to specify the amount of the hospital utilisation credit applicable from 1 April 2026 and to specify the percentage applicable for the purposes of the definitions relating to high cost claims; to amend Schedule 1 to that Act; to make a consequential amendment to the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999; and to provide for related matters.

Last updated 20 January 2026