Private health insurance premiums to rise

MILLIONS of health insurance members are about to be slugged higher costs of up to $140 a year when their premiums rise on October 1.

Private health insurers delayed their annual April 1 increases when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but it now means many members are facing two hikes within six months.

All funds are lifting their premiums next week, except HBF, health.com.au, AIA and TUH, who will delay the rise until 2021. Analysis by health insurance comparison site iSelect found that the planned 2.92 per cent average increase would result in premiums rising on average by $127 to $4476 for families, couples by $140 to $4920 and singles by $59 to $2073.

iSelect spokeswoman Laura Crowden urged Australians who were “doing it really tough financially” to review their premiums before costs go up.

“This out-of-cycle premium rise is likely to be a nasty shock to many policyholders,” she said.

Latest Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority statistics showed in June 28,570 people ditched their hospital cover, while 37,460 people dispensed of their extras cover.

Medibank’s chief customer officer David Koczkar said: “It’s important that customers … ensure they are paying for a policy that best suits their current needs. Customers wanting to reduce their premiums can consider increasing their excess or, if they want to avoid the rate rise, they can pre-pay their premium for 12 months,” he said.

Some funds are offering struggling customers discounts or the pausing of their policies.

This includes Medibank and ahm, who are giving a 50 per cent reduction for six months for eligible customers on various government payments.