There has been a 51 per cent rise in the number of Australians accessing their super early to fund medical treatments such as weight loss surgery, dentistry and IVF.
More than 150,000 Australians have raided their retirement savings early to fund medical treatments over the past five years, prompting concerns the trend is inflating the cost of surgery and leaving patients in a precarious financial situation.
“We know an increasing number of people cannot afford to go to the dentist or a medical specialist. We need to address why this is the case, rather than creating another problem for the future.” David, who represents the peak body for private health insurers, said a 40-year-old who withdraws $20,000 from their super for a tummy tuck will end up with a retirement savings balance reduced by more than $100,000.She believes the ballooning numbers of people accessing their super early to pay for medical treatment is injecting additional money into the private system, which is probably driving up the cost of these procedures for everyone.
Consumer Health Forum of Australia chief executive Dr Elizabeth Deveny would also like to see a tightening of eligibility rules. She said the cost-of-living crisis was fuelling the rise in applications to access super for medical treatments. Under the scheme’s current rules, medical treatment must not be readily available at public hospitals, and the patient must have no other means to pay for the procedure.Jay Johnson drained his super in 2019 to pay for weight loss surgery. He had been told there was more than a 12-month wait at the local public hospital and wanted a quicker option.
Johnson has lost about 30 kilograms since his gastric sleeve surgery, which has dramatically reduced the size of his stomach so he feels full after small meals.“If I didn’t do it, I didn’t think I would be around for my grandkids,” he said. “I’m here now. I have energy and can keep up with my kids.” Dental Board of Australia chair Murray Thomas said earlier this year that he was concerned by the “sudden rise” in complaints. He warned practitioners that providing misleading information to the ATO to support a patient’s request to withdraw super could lead to disciplinary action.
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