Monday, March 05, 2018

New ADA report: Government should provide tax incentives for Australians saving for their own healthcare

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) has released a major new report, Saving for ones' care, which provides fresh impetus for government to re-examine how health policy is delivered in Australia.

Commissioned from the Centre for International Economics, the report proposes tax incentives which would allow Australians to save for their own dental and allied health care (such as physiotherapy and optical), with the ADA calling for bipartisan support for exploring a model that is both good economic health policy and common sense.

The proposal of incentivising a health savings account recognises that the existing funding arrangement for dental care, primarily through general treatment or "extras" cover offered by private health insurers, does not provide sufficient value for consumers.

Using tax incentives would encourage community-wide saving for extras health care needs, and Australians would be rewarded for proactively managing their health in a way that overcomes the limitations of extras cover and retains their freedom of choice in the practitioner they use.

The ADA has repeatedly stated that extras cover is not real insurance. Rather than acting as a product that protects against unexpected costs, extras cover provides a subsidy at best in most instances, with restrictions and caps limiting both its effectiveness and fairness.

Find out more - ADA website featured news story
Read the full report - Saving for ones' care