Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the department’s own scenarios showed pensioners would be seriously affected, arguing it wasn’t a fringe possibility but the government’s own evidence of the policy’s real-world impact. How many people might actually drop their cover? This is where the numbers diverge sharply. The federal government has estimated only around 44,000 people, or 0.4 per cent of the insured population, would drop their cover because of the change. Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Rachel David said the organisation was already hearing from middle-aged Australians concerned they may need to help cover their ageing parents’ health insurance premiums directly, rather than see them lose cover altogether.