Private health insurance premium increase in 2019
The Federal Government’s reforms to make private health insurance simpler and more affordable have delivered an average premium increase of 3.25 per cent from 1 April 2019.
The premium change will see a single person pay an average of $59.28 more per year and a family on average will pay $122.20 more per year.
The range of increases is from 1.64 per cent for the Westfund Limited, the lowest increase, to 4.94 per cent for Navy Health Ltd, the highest increase.
The increase for each fund is tabled below.
This is the smallest increase since 2001 and lower than the 4.1 per cent inflation for medical and hospital services this year.
In addition, from 1 April 2019 insurers will also be able to offer youth based discounts of up to 10 per cent for 18 to 29 year olds.
Changes from April 2018 have provided greater access to mental health services by allowing people to upgrade their hospital cover without serving a waiting period. Additionally since 1 April people have been able to upgrade their existing insurance policies to access psychiatric services without serving a waiting period and have claimed more than $16.8 million in benefits.
New Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic product tiers will be introduced for hospital insurance products from early 2019. The reforms will make private health insurance simpler and more affordable and make it clearer on what is and isn’t covered in their policies.
The Government allocates around $6.4 billion of the revenue it collects every year to the private health insurance rebate.
There are 37 private health insurance funds operating in Australia. Consumers may shop around to get the best deal for themselves and their families. Independent, commission-free advice on current health insurance products offered in Australia is available online on the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman website www.privatehealth.gov.au
For more information on the premium change, see the Department of Health website http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/privatehealth-average-premium-round.
Premium increases by insurer by year
Insurer | Average increase with rate protection (%) | ||||||
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
ACA Health Benefits Fund Limited | 5.89% | 5.78% | 4.96% | 6.19% | 4.70% | 2.72% | 3.23% |
Australian Unity Health Limited | 5.23% | 6.62% | 6.26% | 5.05% | 4.46% | 3.89% | 3.35% |
BUPA HI Pty Ltd | 5.80% | 6.35% | 5.59% | 5.69% | 4.90% | 3.99% | 2.99% |
CBHS Corporate Health Pty Ltd | 2.98% | 2.38% | 3.68% | ||||
CBHS Health Fund Limited | 4.59% | 5.61% | 6.58% | 5.92% | 3.29% | 2.73% | 3.67% |
Cessnock District Health Benefits Fund Limited | 5.55% | 5.36% | 6.99% | 6.19% | 6.57% | 6.40% | 3.90% |
CUA Health Limited | 4.62% | 5.47% | 6.35% | 8.95% | 4.97% | 3.29% | 4.19% |
Defence Health Limited | 4.02% | 5.34% | 5.62% | 5.48% | 5.51% | 5.97% | 4.50% |
Doctors’ Health Fund Pty Ltd, The | 3.78% | 4.23% | 3.98% | 3.76% | 3.54% | 2.28% | 2.94% |
Emergency Services Health Pty Ltd | 3.36% | 3.25% | |||||
GMHBA Limited | 5.23% | 5.94% | 6.43% | 5.44% | 4.94% | 4.34% | 3.31% |
Grand United Corporate Health Limited | 3.23% | 3.46% | 4.32% | 4.26% | 4.11% | 2.84% | 1.80% |
HBF Health Limited | 3.75% | 3.72% | 5.96% | 4.94% | 5.96% | 3.75% | 1.94% |
Health Care Insurance Ltd | 3.97% | 5.34% | 6.12% | 6.90% | 6.06% | 8.90% | 5.53% |
Health Insurance Fund of Australia Limited | 4.47% | 2.98% | 4.49% | 6.55% | 7.99% | 5.35% | 4.77% |
Health Partners Limited | 3.40% | 3.14% | 5.76% | 7.14% | 5.10% | 3.95% | 3.18% |
health.com.au Pty Ltd | 5.76% | 6.13% | 6.81% | 8.81% | 8.53% | 5.87% | 3.96% |
Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Ltd, The | 5.74% | 6.89% | 6.57% | 5.42% | 3.65% | 3.39% | 3.20% |
Latrobe Health Services Limited | 6.21% | 5.98% | 6.15% | 5.52% | 4.49% | 4.25% | 3.85% |
Medibank Private Limited | 6.20% | 6.49% | 6.59% | 5.64% | 4.60% | 3.88% | 3.30% |
Mildura District Hospital Fund Ltd | 5.75% | 3.65% | 6.14% | 6.74% | 5.95% | 5.68% | 3.89% |
MO Health Pty Ltd | 3.90% | 4.45% | |||||
National Health Benefits Australia Pty Ltd | 5.76% | 4.50% | 6.26% | 5.28% | 5.41% | 3.97% | 3.62% |
Navy Health Ltd | 4.80% | 4.53% | 4.50% | 5.50% | 4.94% | 3.94% | 4.94% |
NIB Health Funds Ltd | 6.50% | 7.99% | 6.55% | 5.55% | 4.48% | 3.93% | 3.38% |
Nurses & Midwives Health Pty Ltd | 3.22% | 5.91% | |||||
Peoplecare Health Limited | 6.81% | 5.82% | 6.08% | 4.38% | 5.09% | 4.19% | 4.90% |
Phoenix Health Fund Limited | 5.47% | 6.52% | 6.48% | 5.72% | 5.93% | 4.19% | 3.26% |
Police Health Limited | 4.09% | 4.81% | 4.48% | 4.81% | 4.63% | 3.72% | 3.58% |
Queensland Country Health Fund Ltd | 4.59% | 5.85% | 4.77% | 4.91% | 5.15% | 4.39% | 3.95% |
Queensland Teachers’ Union Health Fund Limited | 4.50% | 4.50% | 6.36% | 7.15% | 7.30% | 4.40% | 3.18% |
Railway & Transport Health Fund Ltd | 4.29% | 4.80% | 6.17% | 5.61% | 5.54% | 4.47% | 3.36% |
Reserve Bank Health Society Ltd | 4.31% | 4.39% | 4.88% | 5.37% | 5.00% | 3.97% | 3.73% |
St Luke’s Medical and Hospital Benefits Association | 3.96% | 6.33% | 6.27% | 5.89% | 4.99% | 4.23% | 3.56% |
Teachers Federation Health Ltd | 4.10% | 5.42% | 6.86% | 4.97% | 4.96% | 2.84% | 3.94% |
Transport Health Pty Ltd | 6.77% | 5.90% | 4.84% | 6.49% | 4.93% | 5.16% | 3.41% |
Westfund Limited | 3.48% | 3.25% | 7.92% | 5.94% | 4.96% | 3.43% | 1.64% |
INDUSTRY WEIGHTED AVERAGE % | 5.6 | 6.2 | 6.18 | 5.59 | 4.84 | 3.95 | 3.25 |
If you can pay your health insurance premiums in advance, some insurers will offer a rate protection. With rate protections, if premium rates are increased within the period you have already paid for your insurance, you will not have to pay increased rates until that period ends. If you do not have rate protection, the insurer will ask you to pay the balance owing on the new rates, or reduce the length of time your advance payment covers.