In Australia, there are 2 main types of health funds: for-profit and not-for profit. For-profit funds like Bupa and Medibank operate like private businesses. Not-for-profit health funds like HCF and hbf are member-owned and ostensibly give all their profits back to members, in some way. For most people, the choice is mostly preference - both types of funds operate pretty much the same.
Funds come in all shapes and sizes, and finding the right one for you involves comparing funds and their policies until you find the perfect fit. Things to look for in a health fund include:
| Response | 75+ yrs | 65-74 yrs | 55-64 yrs | 45-54 yrs | 35-44 yrs | 25-34 yrs | 18-24 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | 50% | 55.81% | 47.2% | 52.66% | 41.08% | 41.58% | 29.41% |
| Yes | 50% | 44.19% | 52.8% | 47.34% | 58.92% | 58.42% | 70.59% |
The following is a comparison of Australian health insurance providers, which summarises their policies and the benefits they offer.
ACA Health Benefits Fund is a not-for-profit health fund for employees of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and their families.
ahm is a part of Medibank Private Ltd and trades as ahm Health Insurance.
Apia specialises in providing health insurance cover for over 50s and seniors. Underwritten by Suncorp
Australian Unity is a health care, financial services and retirement living organisation that provides services to over half a million Australians.
Formerly known as HBA, MBF and Mutual Community, Bupa has been around for more than 60 years.
CBHS Health Fund is a restricted not-for-profit fund for current and former employees of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group and their eligible families.
Hunter Health Insurance is the new name of Cessnock District Health Fund, which has been offering cost-effective private health cover for its members for more than 60 years. Hunter now offer coverage nationwide.
Credit Union Australia Limited (CUA) is a private health fund registered under the Private Health Insurance Act and committed to the principles of the Private Health Insurance Code of Conduct.
Defence Health offers its suite of private health cover options to more than 235,000 members with connections to the Australian Defence Force.
Doctors Health Fund provides a range of private health care solutions for health professionals and their families.
Emergency Services Health is a not-for-profit health fund for Australia’s emergency services community.
Frank Private Health Insurance Australia is a not-for-profit health fund that is part of GMHBA (Geelong Medical and Hospital Benefits Association)
Geelong Medical and Hospital Benefits Association (GMHBA) is a regionally-based not-for-profit member-based health fund.
GU Health, also known as Grand United Corporate Health, is a specialist corporate health fund that services more than 300 companies.
HBF is a not-for-profit health fund and one of the five largest health funds in Australia. Based in Western Australia, it’s been looking after the cover needs of its members for more than 70 years.
The Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Limited (HCF) is one of the Big Four health funds and is the largest not-for-profit health fund in Australia.
Founded in 1938, Health Care Insurance (HCI) aims to offer quality cover and value for money to its members.
Health Partners is a Members Own Health Fund.
Health Insurance Fund of Australia (HIF), a not-for-profit member-based health fund.
Established in 1951, Latrobe is a member-focused health fund, providing cover to more than 78,000 Australians.
Mildura Health Fund, also known as Mildura District Hospital Fund, has been offering health cover to its members since 1929. It has agreements in place with hundreds of hospitals around the country.
Offering competitive policies to suit the cover needs of Australian Defence Force members and their families, Navy Health is a not-for-profit fund and was founded in 1955.
nib is one of Australia's fastest growing health funds and began life as Newcastle Industrial Benefits (nib) Hospital Fund and Medical Fund, established by workers at BHP Steelworks in Mayfield.
Nurses & Midwives Health is exclusively for the needs of the Australian nursing and midwifery community.
With a focus on providing private health insurance that is straightforward and easy to understand, onemedifund offers a wide range of hospital cover, extras cover and combined cover packages.
A not-for-profit health fund with a focus on providing value-for-money cover, Peoplecare was named the number-one open health fund in Australia by Australian Financial Review's Smart Investor magazine in 2014.
Founded in 1953 to meet the health cover needs of Stewarts and Lloyds employees, Phoenix Health Fund now offers competitive private health insurance to anyone in Australia who wants to join.
Run by police for police, Police Health is a not-for-profit fund that offers value-for-money cover.
Qantas Insurance is issued by NIB and made available by Qantas.
Based in regional Queensland, Queensland Country Health Fund aims to offer top-quality cover to Queenslanders. It has more than 35,000 members.
Reserve Bank Health Society is a restricted health fund for current and former employees of the Reserve Bank of Australia or Note Printing Australia and their families.
With a history dating back more than 126 years, RT Health Fund is a not-for-profit fund that offers a large variety of hospital and extras cover options for its members.
St.LukesHealth was founded in Tasmania in 1952. It offers affordable hospital and extras cover to members in every Australian state and territory.
Teachers Health Fund is a restricted access, not-for-profit health fund for those in the education community and their families.
With origins dating back to 1888, Transport Health offers affordable private health cover for all Australians.
Established in 1972 by the Queensland Teachers' Union, TUH offers quality health cover to members of the union and their families. It provides private health insurance cover for more than 70,000 Australians.
UniHealth is created exclusively for the higher education community and their families.
Westfund is a member-owned health fund that was established in 1929. It aims to offer top-quality health cover to a wide variety of Australians.
Finding the right health cover is like taking out any form of insurance. You need to compare policies and identify the one that is the fit for you and represents the value for money. The following are some things to bear in mind when doing so.
When looking for health cover, it’s important to look at the fund as well as the policy to make sure they would be able to fulfil their part of the bargain if you make a claim. You can learn something about a fund’s industry standing, claims record and customer service levels from their online presence and also through industry forums on social media.
The health insurance industry in Australia is regulated by the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC), which conducts quarterly reviews of health funds to ensure compliance. The Private Health Insurance Act 2007 gives the PHIAC the power to issue directives and enforce compliance if necessary, so consumers can be fairly confident that, in Australia at least, our private health insurance industry is well regulated and financially sound.
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