Health insurance just became more expensive. Here’s what you need to know
The biggest rise in premiums in eight years will hit 15 million Australians from April. See how it affects your health fund.
These submissions are reviewed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to ensure they are enough to ensure funds remain financially viable while remaining fair for consumers. This advice is then provided to Butler, who can either approve the rise or ask the insurers to revise their figures if he believes it is unreasonably high.
Announcing the increase on Tuesday, Butler said he asked insurers to resubmit their premium requests “multiple times”.
“This year’s decision reinforces that premium increases must be backed by clear evidence and contribute to system-wide improvements, not just insurer balance sheets,” he said. “Australians deserve transparency, fair pricing and confidence their premiums are being directed where they are needed most.”
How does the increase compare to previous years?
The average increase is the highest since 2017, when policies jumped 4.84 per cent overall. Premium rises were comparatively low through the peak years of the COVID-19 pandemic as Australians flocked to private health cover and insurers banked healthy profits.
