Health insurance rise has insurers scrambling for business

Insurance companies are fervently spruiking there wares in the lead up to an imminent rise in health insurance premiums…the biggest in a decade.

Insurers are calling for people to review their policies ahead of the April 1 increase, which will see families having to pay up to $300 more this year.

The previous Labor Government announced the policy changes last year and industry sources are speculating that intended premium rises are expected to be in a range of 5.5 and seven per cent.

Why? One driver is a blowout in health fund payments to public hospitals.

Health insurance, like any insurance, is just one of those things in life where, if you don’t have it, Murphy’s Law will come into play and you will be left battling it out in the public system. Which, depending on your ailment, doesn’t always have to be a traumatic experience.

In light of this marked increase, insurers are fearful that their customers (that’s us) are going to bail out on their private cover and bank on a clean bill of health. The trouble is, it gets more expensive as you age and the older you get, the more reliant on it you become.

I think we’ve probably all been at this crossroads and weighing up whether or not it’s worth forking out for. You’ve saved for decades for a comfortable retirement and you want to be healthy enough to enjoy it, but where do you draw the line? A lifesaving device like a pacemaker could cost anywhere between $5,000 and $12,000. Is that a cost you could factor in to your lifestyle and budget to cover without insurance?

If you can afford to keep paying for private cover, I would assume the answer is simple. Continue to pay for it and have that peace of mind that it’s there for whenever you need it, which we all inevitably will.

Is it that simple though? Are you currently reviewing your fund to see if it stacks up? Or will you let your cover and your peace of mind lapse?