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Key Points
- Health insurance premiums have been approved to rise 3.73 per cent on average from April.
- A single person with gold hospital cover would have to pay an extra $110 a year.
- Insurers had petitioned the government for a 6 per cent rise.
Around 15 million Australians have private health insurance and a total of $29.9 billion was paid in premiums in the 12 months to 30 September 2024, according to the federal health department.
“The increase of 3.73 per cent, agreed with federal regulators, is as low as the health funds can go without seriously squeezing private hospitals and other providers,” she said.
How much more will private health insurance cost you?
Australia’s largest health insurer, the for-profit Medibank Private, has slated a 3.99 per cent increase in premiums.
In 2024, the government announced an average annual price increase of 3.03 per cent — however, Canstar analysis of pre- and post-April 2024 prices shows the average cost of a single person’s gold cover rose by 11.2 per cent, while the average cost of a family basic policy dropped by 0.7 per cent.
How have insurers responded?
“As a not-for-profit health insurer, we are focused on keeping premium increases as low as possible for our members, especially with cost-of-living pressures affecting household budgets,” chief executive Lachlan Henderson said.
With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press.
