The Private Health Insurance premium increase
What the health rate rise means to you
With the current cost of living pressure, it’s as important as ever to understand what the 2024 annual premium increase means for you. First, if you’re a private health insurance policy holder, you’ll need to know how much you can expect your premium rise to be, as it can vary greatly between policies.
According to our health insurance expert, Steven Spicer, “We’ve seen one customer who’s been hit with a 9.98% premium increase*, which means they’ll be paying hundreds more over the course of a year.”
If your premiums have increased more than the industry average, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find another policy with greater affordability for a comparable level of cover.
*Survey of 1,010 Australian adults, conducted March 2024.
Expert tips on what to do about your rate rise
Our health insurance expert, Steven Spicer, has these tips on what to do after your health fund gets in touch about your rate increase.
Steven Spicer
Executive General Manager – Health, Life & Energy
Review your policy
See if it still fits your needs, budget and lifestyle. If you haven’t done this in a while, you might find that your current private health insurance policy is no longer right for you.
Reconsider the services you need
Hospital cover policies bundle different procedures into product tiers (Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold). This means you might be paying more for expensive services you don’t need (e.g. birth-related services).
Update your cover
Has your life changed since you took out your current policy? Are you planning on having a family? Or maybe you’ve recently suffered a health scare? Whatever it may be, switching to a new policy could make the difference in safeguarding your future health and saving you money.
About the rate rise
What are the benefits of health insurance if my premiums keep rising?
Even with the rate rise, private health insurance remains as valuable as ever, with benefits including:
- Avoiding public hospital waiting lists for elective surgeries
- Your choice of doctor if available
- Great-value extras.
Plus, you’ll have peace of mind that if something goes wrong for you or your family, you’ll be well-positioned to get the health care you need as fast as possible.
You should regularly review your policy and compare options to make sure it’s a good fit for your personal needs and circumstances.
How will I know if my premium is changing?
You’ll be notified of your private health insurance premium increase by your health fund via post or email. This way, you can check over any updated policy information and make an informed decision about what to do next. While funds traditionally increase their premiums on 1 April each year, some funds delayed their rate rise until later in the year during the Covid-19 pandemic.
How are the health insurance rate rises determined?
Before health funds can raise their premiums, they must submit their proposed price increases to the Australian Government and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for approval. The federal government checks all submissions to ensure they’re sustainable, fair and necessary.
Some factors that lead to rate rises include:
- Increased health care costs (including doctors’ and hospital charges)
- An increase in the cost of medical equipment and changing technology
- The growing number of complex and expensive procedures available in private hospitals
- The rate of private health insurance claims.
As the health insurance premium rate rise is a weighted average, some health funds increase their prices more than others.
This weighted average is based on changes to a health fund’s entire portfolio of policies; this means the cost of some policies may go up a substantial amount, some may increase slightly, some may not go up at all, and some could even decrease.
These proposed changes are reviewed, and if the insurer can’t sufficiently justify why they need to increase their premiums, the proposal will be rejected.
Average rate rise per fund
Below is the average rate rise for each health fund in 2024. Keep in mind this is the average increase across all policies offered by the health fund; not all policies will be increased by this amount, if at all.
| Health fund | Average 2024 rate rise |
|---|---|
| ACA Health Benefits Fund Limited | 3.18% |
| AIA Health Insurance | 2.19% |
| Australian Unity Health Limited | 1.42% |
| BUPA HI Pty Ltd | 3.61% |
| CBHS Corporate Health Pty Ltd | 5.82% |
| CBHS Health Fund Limited | 4.51% |
| Defence Health Limited | 1.00% |
| Doctors’ Health Fund Pty Ltd | 2.79% |
| GMHBA Limited | 2.91% |
| HBF Health Limited | 3.95% |
| Health Care Insurance Ltd | 0.27% |
| Health Insurance Fund of Australia Limited | 3.87% |
| Health Partners Limited | 1.93% |
| Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Ltd | 2.89% |
| Hunter Health Insurance* | 3.32% |
| Latrobe Health Services Limited | 3.04% |
| Medibank Private Limited (AHM) | 3.31% |
| Mildura District Hospital Fund Ltd | 2.14% |
| National Health Benefits Australia Pty Ltd | 3.41% |
| Navy Health Ltd | 3.10% |
| NIB Health Funds Ltd | 4.10% |
| Peoplecare Health Limited | 1.63% |
| Phoenix Health Fund Limited | 3.72% |
| Police Health Limited | 3.01% |
| Queensland Country Health Fund Ltd | 2.53% |
| Queensland Teachers’ Union Health Fund Limited | 1.96% |
| Reserve Bank Health Society Ltd | 2.97% |
| St Luke’s Medical and Hospital Benefits Association | 3.20% |
| Teachers Federation Health Ltd | 2.65% |
| Westfund Limited | 2.82% |
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Source: health.gov.au |
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A brief history of private health insurance rate rises
Since the Private Health Insurance Act 2007, the Department of Health has approved private health insurance rate rises. Take a look to see how health insurance rates have changed in Australia over the past decade.
| Health insurance rate increase by year | |
|---|---|
| Year | Rate rise* |
| 2024 | 3.03% |
| 2023 | 2.9% |
| 2022 | 2.7% |
| 2021 | 2.74% |
| 2020 | 2.29% |
| 2019 | 3.25% |
| 2018 | 3.95% |
| 2017 | 4.84% |
| 2016 | 5.59% |
| 2015 | 6.18% |
| 2014 | 6.2% |
| Total increase | 38.1% |
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* Industry average, as taken from health.gov.au |
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Meet our health insurance expert, Steven Spicer
As the Executive General Manager of Health, Life and Energy, Steven Spicer is a strong believer in the benefits of private cover and knows just how valuable the peace of mind that comes with cover can be. He is passionate about demystifying the health insurance industry and advocates for the benefits of comparison when it comes to saving money on your premiums.