Time to read : 3 Minutes
Nearly three quarters of health insurance holders in Australian are going to be hit with a premium increase increase on November 1.
It's because Australia's four biggest health funds – Bupa, Medibank, nib, and HCF – are yet to put up their premiums, but that will change from next month.
Be aware: 2022's average premium increase is 2.70%, but Bupa, Medibank and HCF's averages are all higher than this.
We've broken down what this could cost you below.
Health insurance premium rises: what you need to know
In a normal year, all health funds would put their prices up on April 1. But this year many funds chose to delay their increase until later in the year to give their members a bit of financial respite.
😱 Unfortunately most of those delayed increases are about to hit while Australia is in a cost-of-living crisis.
😟 Be prepared: if the industry goes back to business as usual in 2023, most health insurance holders will get two price hikes in less than six month.
Compare Club's Andrew Davis thinks this year's delayed increases would have only saved members around $50-$60, depending when their fund opted to put up premiums.
In contrast, we've crunched the numbers using Compare Club's own data and reckon families could see premiums rise this November from anywhere between $118 - $166.
We don't know exactly how much premiums will go up by next year, but we ran some modelling using a 2.65% average increase in April 1, 2023. This is who we think could be hit hardest over the next six months, using this model:
Young families could see an extra $240 added onto their annual premiums.
Couples over 55 could be paying an extra $300.
Retired couples could see their average premium rise to over $6,000 a year.
The long game: That doesn't seem a lot but over the past 10 years, private health premiums have gone up by an average 54%.
The bottom line
Life, death, taxes and health insurance premium rises are all guaranteed in Australia. It doesn't mean you should ditch health cover, but there may be a better value policy out there.
💰Being nimble could save you a lot of cash.
We'll leave the final word with our CEO Andrew Davis:
"The best thing Australians can do, especially if they haven’t in a little while, is to review their health cover and be willing to switch. There could be a better deal out there for you and your family that you’re not even aware of, and a broker can help you find that.”
Go Deeper:
Health Insurance Expert Eli Boroda on why we're seeing premiums rise.
A detailed guide to the 2022 health insurance premium increase.
The information contained on this web page is of general nature only and has been prepared without taking into consideration your objectives, needs and financial situation. You should check with a financial professional before making any decisions.
We like to be open about how we've done our sums, so here's our calculation disclaimers:
Our November calculations are based on an average premium increase of 2.90% - that's the average increase across Bupa, Medibank, HCF and nib. $118 is the estimated average increase for an under 30s family policy (based on the average premium amount we see Compare Club customers take out in 2022). $166 is the estimated average for an over 65s family policy. We used the same average premium values when calculating 2023's potential premium increase, after 2022's rate rise had been applied. It's a bit speculative as we won't know how much premiums will go up by until the end of this year, but it's a conservative estimate based on previous increases. You can see a complete list of historic premium increases by insurers here.
