Is health insurance too expensive?

Health Insurance premium hikes will come into effect on 1 April 2017 with average premiums increasing by a total of more than 50 per cent since 2010.

On average Australians can expect a hit to the hip pocket with an average increase to health insurance premiums by 4.84%, adding approximately $200 a year to the cost of the average family policy.

Many don’t realise though, that your increase may in fact be much higher with one insurer’s premiums increasing by 8.95%, more than double the lowest increase of just 2.98%.

Despite the hike, according to research from iSelect, nine out of ten Australians believed their private health insurance was important to them despite affordability concerns.

At the end of the last financial year, almost half the population had private hospital treatment cover (47.4%) and more than half the population had some type of private extras cover (55.8%).

With over 13 million Australians now having some form of private health insurance, it’s important to note that you have nearly 40 health insurers to choose from, offering tens of thousands of policies.  This makes it hard to know which one is best and how you can get the most out of your insurance.

Here are some top tips to follow.

Contact your insurer

When it comes to getting the best deal, don’t underestimate the value of calling your current insurer to see if there is a better policy within the same insurer or removing covers that you may unlikely need such as pregnancy for the elderly or hip replacement for young adults.

Pay now

Consider paying your full year’s premium before 1 April to save on costs.  Why pay for the increase if you can afford not to.

Before you change

If you choose to move on from your insurer, make sure that before you change, you are aware of what you are losing and what you may be gaining in benefits.

Save time and money

There are vast differences between the thousands of policies that are available so consider using a comparison site or talk to a Health Insurance Broker who can help you identify a health insurance policy that is better suited to your needs and is priced the most competitively.

Here is the full list of insurers and their price increases.