The ABC AM program this morning falsely asserted that the Government is considering a co-payment (an upfront charge to see a doctor).
In an interview on Radio 2UE this morning what I said was: "Now what weve got to do, is weve got to encourage these people who have the ability to pay to start making a contribution and one of the ways in which we want to encourage them to do that is to take out private health insurance."
I also said: "But for those that can afford to make a contribution they should be making a contribution through private health insurance. And weve got to make the private health insurance product better by alleviating costs."
It is Government policy to encourage people to take out private health insurance which covers hospital charges.
The Government is not considering an upfront co-payment for doctors charges.
The suggestion to the contrary made by the ABCs AM program is baseless.