Government drops Private Health Subsidies for Natural Therapies in Australia

The federal government has announced the biggest shake-up to private health insurance in decades, including an end to subsidies for natural therapies such as homeopathy, aromatherapy, Pilates and yoga.
Gerry Dendrinos, homeopath and Vice President of the Australian Homeopathic Association, says this is news “two in three Australians – or 14 million Australians – who use complementary medicine and natural therapies didn’t want to hear.”
“We agree that people need to be able to access insurance and applaud the government’s move to make it more accessible and affordable, but this is not the way to go about it. This impacts consumers right of choice and we believe will drive people away from health insurance.”
“It takes away access to their extras and these extras are important services that millions of people have used to invest in preventative healthcare and manage chronic conditions,” says Gerry.
Gerry Dendrinos joined Jon Faine to debate the effectiveness of homeopathy and the studies the government used to reach their conclusion.