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NewsHealth insurance complaints rise by 40%
Health insurance complaints rise by 40%

Health insurance complaints rise by 40%

Tags: Health Insurance
Last updated by Heath Davis on

Are you among the many Australians frustrated and, well, lets be frank – “fed up” - with your current private health insurer?

This very question was proposed at last week’s Senate hearing in Canberra into the burgeoning costs of private health coverage.

A parliamentary committee was told that the medical device industry has been cheating patients and Aussie taxpayers (which includes you FiftyUp Club members) for years with speculated price figures in the vicinity of billions of dollars.

The startling revelations come in the wake of a class action taken out by more than 700 Aussie women against major healthcare player Johnson & Johnson in relation to complications from vaginal mesh implants.

While private health providers attributed the high cost of medical devices for their escalating premiums, it appears customers have finally had enough of being forced to swallow the bitter pill of expensive cover. 

Private Health Insurance Ombudsman director, David McGregor, told the Associated Press that customers were increasingly frustrated by rising costs, with a whopping 40 per cent increase in complaints in the first quarter of 2017.

So just how can you fight back against a greedy health insurer?

One way is to keep a close eye on your health insurance policy and check whether you’re getting the right cover and not being charged too much. 

Providers prey on busy, forgetful or complacent policyholders, who according to news.com.au “set and forget” their policies.

With the average premium rising by 4.84 per cent recently, stinging families in the pocket for an extra $200 a year, it’s time you become more discerning with your health spending.

So FiftyUps if you’re not happy with your coverage, don’t just sit back and complain. Get proactive and check out our special FiftyUp Club only offer on health here

 

 

 

 

Originally posted on .

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keith
keith from QLD commented:

yes,health insurance is a rort and the government know it but has its head in the sand..... I pay $185 per month for single top hospital cover about $2000 a year....yet I still have to pay when I go to the dentist optometrist etc......it all ads up but the cover goes down......... but, as the government says "we're looking at it "..... how about stop damn well looking and actually do something 

Someone
Someone from NSW commented:

Imagine building insurance that only replaced a quarter of your home - you wouldn't buy it.... Inflated premiums and depleted coverage are the in your face issues, but where do insurers get off with this "pre-existing condition" clause that can ultimately extend back to your birth!? One year's cover and they supposedly forget about it, but jump ship to another provider and you have to go through the whole waiting period biz all over again, talk about "double dipping". Even your kids having been on your insurance since birth can't avoid this gotcha! Sure there will always be a handful of customers who rort the system, but Insurers seem to have more loop holes than a shag pile carpet when it comes to avoiding a claim on out of the ordinary services - and you don't see this till it hurts!! 

Sunny
Sunny from QLD commented:

I am sick and tired of having to pay for cover for items that are NOT of any interest to me. I am mid 60's - but level of cover I want includes reproduction services, infertility, pregnancy, weight loss surgery, etc. PLUS - sick and tired of items being pushed up in to top level fund. Eg - joint replacement - used to be covered by my mid level premium. But now they have pushed it to TOP level premium, which includes all the other things I don't want or need. Then they have the nerve to tell me that the level I am in has the highest number of claims! Don't have to be Einstein to realize if you lump high cost procedures in to the one premium level, you will have a higher claim rate. Also get tired of hearing how my fund will go up by 4.9%. How about 12.9%? If 4.9 is the average, and mine is 12.9 - means someone's rate must have gone down - but I've never heard of that. Health Insurance is a rort - nothing more. Plus - going over some old receipts from 2008 - used to get around 85% back for dental. Now luck to get 15-20%. Premiums go up - cover goes down. Fed up. 

George
George from NSW commented:

"Private Health Insurance Ombudsman director, David McGregor, told the Associated Press that customers were increasingly frustrated by rising costs.......". Really? Is that the only issue? For Insurance to be real, there should be NO GAPS other than any chosen excesses. 

Paul
Paul from QLD commented:

Well after some serious thought and crunching the numbers nothing we saw was any good so we ditched our insurance. We just cannot as pensioners afford it. In fact the more we looked the more we realised that so called private health insurance is just not worth the money for what you get. 

DESLEY
DESLEY from QLD commented:

How about the govt actually do something about looking at the Medicare rebate for a change. It's rediculous how much we have to pay for the gap payments after already paying high prices for medical attention. Makes you think health insurance is not worth having these days. 

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