Cost of health cover hurting

SOARING health insurance premiums have struck a nerve with consumers, with more than half considering going without cover.

Insurance premiums have jumped by 70 per cent since 2008 and on April 1 policies will climb by an average 3.95 per cent, stinging families an additional $ 164 a year.

Experts have warned Australians they should break their “set and forget” mentality and review their cover.

New Galaxy research compiled for comparison website iSelect found 57 per cent of Australians were reconsidering the worth of health insurance, with about 36 per cent struggling to justify the cost.

In the past year, one in two people either ditched or switched their cover.

Medibank’s chief customer officer David Koczkar urged consumers to “review their cover regularly”.

“This year we are proactively contacting more than 250,000 customers to make sure they have the right cover,’’ he said. “There’s the option to prepay their health cover for up to 12 months at the existing rate before April 1 but what’s more important is they are choosing the cover is right for them.”

Latest health insurance statistics show 45.6 per cent of the population had hospital treatment cover in December.

This was a decrease of 0.2 per cent or a fall of 12,300 policies for the December quarter.

iSelect spokeswoman Natalie Pennisi said customers must take action now to get a better deal. To do this they should pick up the phone and call insurers.

“People have a choice and consumers need to take responsibility and understand what is available to them,’’ she said. “Health insurance can be difficult to navigate and understand.”

The research found 36 per cent of people could not justify the cost of health cover, but the main reasons for sticking with cover included peace of mind, maintaining extras cover for costs such as dental and optical and reducing charges if a hospital admission was required.