Health fund prices to soar

ONE major health fund is raising the premiums of its Gold cover by 11.4 per cent, which is more than three times the inflation rate and more than four times the industry “average”.

Health fund HBF, which cancelled its premium rise in 2020, will increase annual premiums on its Gold Hospital with Flexi 60 extras products by almost $400 for singles and $793 for families on April 1.

It is also the only major health fund not to delay its annual premium rise beyond April 1 this year.

The nation’s two biggest health funds – Medibank and Bupa – will raise their premiums above the national average; Medibank by an average of 3.1 per cent and Bupa by 3.18 per cent.

Health funds last year made $1.5bn profit (an increase of 204 per cent) due to Covid surgery bans that prevented their members from using their cover to pay for elective surgery, dental and other care.

Normally premium rises take effect on April 1, but four of the major funds have deferred premium rises until later in the year as they seek to return some of these Covid profits to their members.

Nib will not impose its rise until September 1; Medibank and BUPA will delay theirs until October 1; and HCF will hold off until November 1.

After years of decline, health fund membership is on the rise as wait times for surgery in public hospitals hit record levels.

A survey by health fund comparison service iselect found almost one in four (24 per cent) of fund members believed health insurance had become more valuable as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One in five Aussies indicated they had been affected by delays in elective surgeries within the past two years, 14 per cent within the public system and 8 per cent within the private system.

“Now is a good time for health fund members to get themselves up to speed and review their policy to ensure it still suits their needs and budget,” said iselect spokeswoman Sophie Ryan.

Medibank said its premiums would rise by an average 3.10 per cent but some policies would not rise at all. The highest increase will be 7 per cent.

Nib members who have Gold hospital policies are facing rises of 6.77 to 6.81 per cent; Silver Plus policies will rise by between 3.59 and 3.61 per cent; and Bronzeplus policies by 0.41 per cent to 2.9 per cent, depending on which state a person lives in.

Bupa said it was unable to provide a breakdown on its policy rises because “generally every customer’s product combination is different”.

HCF said its rise wasn’t until November, and members would be informed of their increases “about a month before”. Its premiums are to rise by an average of 3.62 per cent.

The fund’s Its chief executive John Van Der Wielen said 80 per cent of members lived in WA, which did not experience the same savings from Covid-19 lockdowns and surgery bans as funds based in the eastern states, which is why it was unable to defer premium rises this year.