Incentives luring Australians into getting health insurance
Health funds tempt Australians into taking out health cover with gifts.
Australians who don't have private health insurance could be swayed into taking out cover with the promise of something as small as a movie ticket, according to research from finder.com.au.
The survey found that a potential 9.1 million Australians over the age of 20 could be convinced to take out health insurance if offered the right incentive.
Would a $100 gift card convince you to take out private health insurance? You're not alone. For roughly 17% of Australians (approx 1.5 million) that's all it would take.
For 15% of us, just ditching the waiting periods on extras would be enough to sway us into taking out cover.
One in 10 would be happy with a freebee of some kind including movie tickets, frequent flyer points, Fitbits, toys or even a month's free cover.
Gen Y were most likely to be coerced into taking out cover, with only 24% saying they couldn’t be tempted to sign up no matter what the perk versus 71% of baby boomers.
While over half of those surveyed could be tempted by a gift into taking out cover, 48% said that would be reluctant to sign up for health insurance no matter the perk on offer.
These findings support research from March 2017 which showed that only 41% of Australians had actually taken advantage of deals from their health funds.
While these offers may appear to be a value add, make sure you're not sacrificing cover for something that is shiny on the surface. Compare your health insurance options online and use these deals as a tiebreaker rather than as a deciding factor.
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