Medicare levy or surcharge are both taxes, money has to be raised somewhere to fund healthcare. Healthcare cost rises are far outstripping earnings & inflation. Taking out private medical insurance means you avoid paying the surcharge, lots of people do this because the cost of premiums is far lower than the tax they would pay.
If you read the point further down I proposed changing the split between income tax & Medicare levy to reflect the actual cost of medical costs. What you tax as Medicare levy is actually what you spend on health care, not what happens now. Future increases in the Medicare levy would 100% reflect the increaed cost of providing healthcare.
How would you suggest paying for the increase in healthcare in the future? The alternative is to raise some other tax, what I am suggesting is 100% transparent.
