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NewsWhy rising Health Premiums are mainly an Over-50 Problem
Why rising Health Premiums are mainly an Over-50 Problem

Why rising Health Premiums are mainly an Over-50 Problem

Tags: Health Insurance
Last updated by Kayley Harris on

Around the country, Australians will be getting an unwelcome letter in the mail soon. From April 1, health insurance premiums will be going up by 3.95% on average but for many it will be higher. 

For some, this may be the final nail in the coffin.

But new statistics show that it’s the over-50s who are having the most difficulty deciding whether to keep our health cover*.

The latest data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) found that private health cover* in Australia in 2017 fell to its lowest level in 5 years.

Finder.com.au reports that most people who are ditching cover are all under the age of 60.

But the over-60s are taking out more policies than in past years, and particularly those over 70.

For example, those aged 70–79 accounted for 50,000 more policies in December 2017 than they did in December 2016.

A Finder survey found that  15% of boomers would have said goodbye to their health cover if premiums had risen by 4% or more.

Australian health insurance policies vary in cost, from $28.55 per month for the cheapest basic hospital cover to $317.45 per month for top cover, according to finder.com.au data.

So what can you do? How about some cosmetic surgery on your policy…nip and tuck before you quit?

OUR TOP TIPS TO SAVE:

Private Health Insurance is important to FiftyUps so here are a few tips if you want to stay with private health insurance but you’re worried about this latest increase:

  1. If you can afford to pre-pay your health insurance for 12 months then do it and get it locked in at the cheaper rate.
  2. Do a cover review to make sure you’re not paying too much. The Club has teamed up with a comparison service called HealthInsuranceComparison.com.au that targets older policyholders and saved 100 older customers an average of $375^ on their premium last year.
  3. Click here to see the members’ offer from HCF, or call the hotline for a quote: 1800 345 044
  4. At privatehealth.gov.au, you can see every policy on the market if you want to do the work yourself. But the government website won’t answer your questions over the phone, which is where commercial comparison sites have an advantage.
  5. Don’t just accept gap payments. Try one of these websites to find a specialist in your suburb or town and find out if they have an agreement with your health fund not to charge these infuriating costs:

^ Savings figure is based on data from 100 customers of Choosewell/HealthInsuranceComparison.com.au, analysis conducted Jan-Mar 2016. 

Whilst opting out of private health coverage might be something you can get away with in your younger years, we advise FiftyUps to look before you leap and make sure you are not missing out on hundreds of dollars in savings and don’t even know it.

 

Originally posted on .

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Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

Private Health Cover is a ridiculous joke. My husband and I are already members of HCF so no advantage to us. The Government needs to get out of bed with the Private Funds and allow them to discount to over Fifties. We come from an era that super was practically unheard of, so nothing there to manage our retirement. I can remember the days of Private Health where you actually got money back is you had Private Cover. These days it's a fortune to be a member, then there's your excess and gap payments. The only reason we are still in HCF is because my husband is over retirement age and still working as a semi trailer driver, (can't afford for him to retire), and he will need knee surgery done. I my self am disabled and 68. Although we can't afford these outrageous rates, not to mention the gap payments. We don't have a choice. Give seniors a go and start discounting to us, especially when we have been covered since the age of 16. 

Karen
Karen from NSW commented:

Paying in full before 1 April to avoid premium rises sounds all well and good until you get to the following year where you want to do the same. Then you pay the increased premium from the year before. So ultimately no real advantage at all. All you do is defer the increase for 12 months by which time everything else has gone up too leaving yet more of a shortfall in the budget. How is this actually saving anyone anything? 

IAN
IAN from NSW commented:

After 40 + years of private health insurance my wife and I decided to give private health ripoff a miss. I have had 2 knee replacements and they cost me over $8000.00 ! Choose your own specialist is a joke, how many orthopedist does anyone know. You get referrals from your GP and then you are in the system. How good is this and within a few weeks you are booked into a hospital and then the Unknown charges start. The anaethesist is not covered, the specialist charges 40 % more than the scheduled fee, the health insurance get an excess and then there is your rehab costs. A $5000 operation costs $10,000. I am smart, I spend over$3000 per year to double the cost of my procedures. I might be better to go for a holiday to Thailand and hav my elective surgery and if I need heart,lung,cancer,bowel,kidney and dementia hospitalisation I can use the public system. Ian NSW. 

Someone
Someone from VIC replied to IAN:

My siblings and I had to have colonoscopies (sorry if not spelt correct). I am the only one with PHI. I had to pay an excess $500. My three siblings with NO PHI paid $0 zilch. How does that work? 

Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

Just a rip off. 

Someone
Someone from QLD replied to IAN:

Couldn't agree more. 

Robert
Robert from NSW commented:

As a generalisation, the private health funds are making annual profits in the squillions of dollars, and have done so for years. Why then have the federal health ministers of both major political parties approved annual increases in premiums way above the CPI ? What influence does the AMA have over politicians through its lobbyists ? Time for a Royal Commission methinks. 

Someone
Someone from VIC replied to Robert:

I agree. 

Someone
Someone from VIC commented:

I have had private health insurance since I was 24. Turning 58 this year and cannot keep up with the cost as my ability to earn a decent income decreases. I have had one 2% pay increase in the last 6 years. What I have found is each year the premium goes up and I loose cover off the policy. This year my policy removed heart related services. I don't know what to do. 

margaret
margaret from NSW commented:

Well at least you have come to the right place for help. Kayley has written many a fine article on health funds, so look carefully at her reply. 

Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

Over fifties can’t afford to join health funds because of the government LHC that is added if you haven’t had cover before. Very frustrating. Would like to have hospital cover, but it seems we are destined to stay in the public hospital system. 

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