May 20, 2026 — 5:30pmI ran straight into a plate glass sliding door maybe 12 years ago. Fortunately, body fine, not a scratch. Bruised ego and nose. Glasses shattered.Took me ages to find what I wanted. But then, I wear them from the minute I open my eyes to last thing when I look at photos of my family before I sleep. I reckon I get better mileage from them than most of you lot get from your sneakers.I’m now looking for some new glasses. Getty ImagesWhen I made my claim from my private health fund back then, I got back $200. I’m meant to buy a new pair now, but telling you how much new ones will cost is too embarrassing. Yet when I look at my health fund, my refund will be $225. When I plug the numbers into the Reserve Bank’s Inflation Calculator, comparing 2014 to 2025, I should be getting well over $260, not accounting for this year’s inflation mayhem.Are health funds worth it? Are we getting value for money? Do we need a giant revamp of health in Australia, and does any government have the gonads to do such a thing? As ever, I asked actual experts about what they thought.Last year, as I faced up to the prospect of new glasses, I rang my health fund to see if rebates had improved over time. People, do not waste your time asking these questions of private health funds. Basically, no time-value comparisons and some wibble-wobble about how much you get back “up to the annual limit”. My favourite bit? [This] “ensures those benefits keep pace with rising costs”.I called Medibank Private – at least its spokesperson didn’t beat around the bush. “While our extras limits have remained the same, we continue to add value in other ways.” The cutie pies at HCF said they pretty much increase their extras regularly. TL;DR – not that great either.Extras aren’t everything – but they are a brief, uniform example of the sheer incapacity of health funds to keep up with our needs. And it’s far, far worse when you actually need surgery. Former Grattan head health honcho Stephen Duckett told me (and had previously shared this with Health Minister Mark Butler) that he’d booked himself in for cataract surgery. When he got the quote from his ophthalmologist, it was four times the scheduled fee. That’s not just a health fund problem but a health system problem.Last week’s federal budget has irritated the hell out of many people, including the wealthy. Good. But one change reminded me that a brave government, and this one is showing some signs, needs to totally revamp the way health funding works in this country.Let’s shut down private health. Pour all the money we now send to save the failing private health funds into Medicare – and in the meantime, save the health of our nation.What was the change? Higher private health fund rebates for those aged over 65 will be ditched. Labor’s forecast is that costs for that group could increase by as much as $250 a year. Maybe 44,000 people would stop taking out health insurance. Stephen Duckett says it will barely have any impact on the public health system.Australia’s leading health economist, the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research’s Professor Yuting Zhang, says rebates are not the best use of taxpayers’ money – although she says in a system like ours, it’s important to have rebates for the low-income population.She points out that premiums have soared, but the value consumers get hasn’t increased at anything like that rate.“In general, the increase in doctor’s fees is far higher than inflation,” she says. And for some, relying on private health insurance is pointless – there isn’t a private hospital within 75 kilometres of where they live.Most of us are trapped. The Medicare levy surcharge system, payable if we don’t have private health insurance, props up a ridiculously inefficient system and companies which hike insurance premiums so often it’s hard to see value.How would Zhang like to see it change?“Reduce the support from the government for private health insurance.“Private health insurance is a problem caused by a policy that hasn’t been sorted out in 25 years. And no one has the guts to change it.”Why have private health insurance when it’s such a bad deal? Joanne Earl, honorary professor of psychology at UNSW, has explored two sets of data; the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the University of Melbourne’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data, about why we leave our jobs. The reasons given overlap but are pretty much the same – HILDA says we leave work first of all because we are concerned about our health. That’s the ABS’s second reason (some folks leave work because they have enough money to chill).But we all worry about what’s going to happen to our health – and we aren’t all that confident that the health system will support us if things go wrong, either in hospital or using extras as a way of dealing with debilitating symptoms.Earl is critical of private health insurance for meagre rebates on absolutely essential devices, such as hearing aids.She says, “I’d be in favour of the government covering off more essential items as we age, especially those poorly supported by health insurance.”Hearing aids are crucial. Earl gently mocks me for my desire to have fancy glasses – but she’s right about one thing. They aren’t essential in quite the same way as being able to hear.And yes, it is true that those on low incomes are able to access such devices for a low cost – but even then there’s a gap. If I had to fork out 20 grand for top-of-the-line hearing aids, I’d be in a panic for months.Let’s take Zhang’s lead. Throw the whole thing out and start again.Jenna Price is a regular columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.More:Health insuranceOpinionFor subscribersHealthcareFrom our partners