Australian Senate defeats health insurance changes
CANBERRA, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The upper house of Australia's parliament voted down government plans to make it easier for people to abandon private health insurance on Wednesday, in a move that could bring relief to some listed health insurers.
The defeat of the legislation is a victory for the private health insurance industry, which warned the changes would have led 400,000 people to drop their private health cover.
The government originally planned to raise income thresholds to A$100,000 ($84,000) before single Australians must pay a one percent surcharge on their income if they do not have private health insurance.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Tuesday said the government would lift the income threshold to only A$75,000, with ongoing indexation for inflation, in a compromise designed to ensure minor party and independent support for the laws in the Senate.
But the government fell one vote short of passing the new laws on Wednesday and the bill was defeated at the second reading stage, meaning the government can re-introduce the laws at any time if it can broker a deal with independent senators.
The government plans had weighed on shares of Australia's top private hospital operators Ramsay Health Care Ltd (RHC.AX) and Healthscope Ltd (HSP.AX) and on private health insurance fund NIB Holdings Ltd (NHF.AX). ($1=A$1.20) (Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Michael Perry)
