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NewsCoalition to weed out "Junk Health Policies"
Coalition to weed out "Junk Health Policies"

Coalition to weed out "Junk Health Policies"

Tags: Health Insurance
Last updated by Someone on

Two weeks after the FiftyUp Club released it’s findings into Health costs, the Federal Coalition has announced this week that Private health insurance is facing a shake up in a bid to weed out "junk" policies and eliminate bill shock.

Health Minister Sussan Ley said a coalition government would introduce a gold, silver and bronze insurance policy ranking system to make it easier for consumers to understand what would be covered, endorsed and refunded.

The coalition has conducted its own surveys in which 70 per cent of its 40,000 respondents said they struggled to make changes to their private health insurance policy. Two-thirds of respondents also said they were not getting value for money from their plans.

These figures mirror our figures which showed  72% of FiftyUp members rated Health Insurance as their number one Health cost concern ahead of the July 2 election.

47% of FiftyUps told us they haven’t shopped around for a cheaper premium because “it’s too difficult to compare”. That's why the Club has created a Simple Health Cover Quoting Tool to help you get a quote and see if your current policy measures up.

THE COALITION'S PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN:

* Develop gold, silver and bronze health policy categories

* Ensure customers have access to products with mandated minimum levels of cover

* Develop standard definitions for medical procedures across all insurers

* Simplify medical billing

* Enforce the use of plain English by insurers, and make fine print and commissions transparent.

 

Originally posted on .

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Someone
Someone from ACT commented:

How about the govt does something about the ridiculously low scheduled fee set by the govt. Double knee replacement scheduled fee $2300.00, doctor fee $9500. But under medicare is costs $0.00, sure you have to wait and you don't have a choice of doctor, but as a retiree $7200 is a lot to have to fund yourself. The schedule fees are unrealistic and need to be changed. 

Marion
Marion from QLD commented:

I'm not convinced that anything will be done. Probably just another election "maybe " promise. We have heard time and time again that private health insurance is going to be made better for the consumer but we are still waiting. 

GLORIA
GLORIA from VIC commented:

Thank goodness someone is stepping up to address this mess, we are like the majority, confused by the jargon, tried several times to lower our premiums and feel exhausted at the conclusion with still no resolution. 

Billee
Billee from QLD commented:

Believe costs are excessive for the cover provided. Would certainly welcome government taking action 

alastair
alastair from NSW commented:

is it correct that some health funds only insure up to 65 years of age?If so ,maybe something to look at. 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

If you could choose a package to suit you, perhaps more people would take up health insurance. As some of the packages have products you rarely use. That's not getting value for money. Lynn. 

Diane
Diane from VIC commented:

About time the Government addressed this problem. I will be very interested to see what comes of it. Good Luck! 

Robert
Robert from NSW commented:

It is about time that someone has a good look at private health cover in Australia. it is certainly not value for money. 

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