Thousands of private health insurance customers have seen the cost of their premiums soar well above the expected 3.95% average increase, with figures showing more than a dozen policies have jumped by double-digit figures.
A new analysis of the annual health insurance premium increases – which came in on 1 April – reveals that in one case a private provider increased costs by 45%.
The figures were revealed by consumer advocacy group Choice on Sunday. The group said in some cases the increases will mean families will need to pay an additional $800 a year, and will put more pressure on the growing number of Australians already struggling to pay their private health insurance.
“Although premiums on some of the smaller funds are among the biggest increases, they might still be good value for money at a time when BUPA, HBF among others are cutting benefits,” Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said.
The largest premium increase of 45% was from St Lukes in Tasmania for its Super Extras policy. The increase came after the company changed the price of the product to reflect the different cost of the service in different states.
While customers in New South Wales and ACT will pay the 45% increase, customers in Victoria will still see an increase of 35%.
St Lukes’ closest competitor, Tasmanian-based Health Care Insurance, also changed to state-based pricing and increased the price of its Premier Extras product by 30% in all states except Tasmania, where it went up by 5.1%.
In January the health minister, Greg Hunt, announced the 3.95% weighted increased, which would mean the average family pays an extra $143 for private health insurance in one year.
At the time he advertised it as the lowest premium increase since 2001, and said reforms to prostheses pricing had helped to keep premiums down because prior to the changes health funds had been paying benefits for medical devices and prostheses at a rate up to five times higher than prices charged for the same products in the public system.
But Godfrey said despite being low by historical standards, this year’s premium hike is twice the rate of general inflation.
“This latest increase will mean private health insurance customers have been hit with a 70% cumulative price hike since 2008, forcing many to downgrade or drop their private health insurance,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the barrage of fear-laden advertising from health insurers and for-profit switching sites, private cover is unaffordable and often unnecessary for many consumers.”
On Sunday Hunt announced patients with a form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma will have the cost of treatment cut by thousands of dollars from next month.
Hunt announced the immunotherapy drug Keytruda would be made available for Hodgkin’s patients. Keytruda is already listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for other cancers such as advanced melanoma, but can cost $200,000 for each course of treatment for people with Hodgkin’s.
The government’s decision to list it on the PBS means patients will not pay more than $39.50 a script.
While most Hodgkin’s patients are treated with chemotherapy, those who relapse are prescribed the drug. Hunt said the listing would affect about 120 patients a year.
“This listing provides a new option for patients that cannot undergo, or have no response from, the normal chemotherapy treatment,” Hunt said.
