The price of premium hospital cover has skyrocketed, with a consumer advocacy group finding the country’s biggest health insurers were increasing prices at a higher rate than advertised averages. According to
, average health insurance premiums across all levels went up by 8.6 per cent over the past three years. In comparison, top-level Gold hospital policies have increased by more than 30 per cent on average, with health insurance expert Jodi Bird saying health insurers are using “sneaky tactics” to jack up the prices.
compared the price of Gold hospital policies at the five biggest health insurers for new customers in both 2021 and 2024. The biggest jump in price was at HBF, with its Gold cover increasing by 46.9 per cent. Second was Medibank with an increase of 43 per cent, followed by NIB , Bupa and HCF . While health insurers can only increase premiums once a year, Bird explained how they were getting away with increasing the price of their top-level hospital policies.
said was “essentially the same cover with a 30 per cent increase in cost”. This 30 per cent increase equates to an extra $780 a year. “We also found that some insurers retained their more affordable Gold policies but didn’t show these policies to new customers on their website. Instead, they only promoted their newer, pricier policies,” Bird said. Bird urged customers to look at their policy to ensure it’s the right fit as it may be worth downgrading to a less expensive cover.
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