How much is your health insurer putting up prices this week?
Many policyholders have just 1 day left to lock in cheaper health insurance premiums.
On 1 April – read, Friday – a heap of health insurers are increasing the cost of their premiums. The average price jump this year will be 2.7%, but some policies will go up as much as 5.33%.
The 2.7% rise is the lowest average annual increase by the industry in 21 years. That's because most funds made savings through the COVID-19 pandemic due to fewer policy claims.
It has led to a number of major health funds, including Medibank and ahm, delaying their standard premium rises for 6 months (others, such as HCF, have delayed theirs by 7 months until 1 November).
Despite this, now could be a great time to act and see how much you can save – especially if your fund is about to charge you more for your cover. If you can afford to pay your premiums upfront, you can secure a cheaper policy.
How do I know if my premiums are going up?
Your health fund should have contacted you to let you know about its plans to increase the price of your policy. This would have been sent to you via email or a letter.
Here are the 2022 health insurance premium increases from the majority of funds in Australia:
| Health Fund | 2022 increase | Date of increase |
|---|---|---|
| ACA | 2.59% | 1 October |
| AIA | 2.80% | 1 September |
| Australian Unity | 2.73% | 1 April |
| Bupa | 3.18% | 1 November |
| CBHS Corporate | 5.33% | 1 July |
| CBHS Health Fund | 2.91% | 1 July |
| CUA | 3.42% | 1 April |
| Defence Health | 3.33% | 1 October |
| Doctors' Health | 2.28% | 1 October |
| GMHBA | 3.10% | 1 October |
| HCF | 2.72% | 1 November |
| HBF | 3.62% | 1 April |
| Health Care Insurance | 1.09% | 1 April |
| HIF | 3.20% | 1 April |
| Health Partners | 3.15% | 1 April – note, Health Partners has since confirmed it will reduce premiums, from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, by 5% |
| Hunter Health Insurance (Cessnock District Health Benefits Fund) | 3.77% | 1 April |
| Latrobe Health | 3.41% | 1 October |
| Medibank (including ahm) | 3.10% | 16 January 2023 |
| Mildura District Hospital Fund | 2.90% | 1 October |
| National Health Benefits Australia | 3.24% | 1 April |
| Navy Health | 3.25% | 1 April |
| nib | 2.66% | 1 November |
| Peoplecare | 3.27% | 1 October |
| Phoenix | 3.16% | 1 April |
| Police Health | 1.79% | 1 April |
| Queensland Country Health Fund | 3.34% | 1 April |
| Queensland Teachers' Union Health (TUH) | 2.26% | 1 October |
| Reserve Bank Health Society | 3.74% | 1 April |
| St Luke's | 3.19% | 1 July |
| Teachers Health | 2.17% | 1 October |
| Transport Health | 1.16% | 1 November |
| Westfund | 2.40% | 1 August |
Note: We updated this article on 08 September to reflect that Bupa and nib had delayed their premium rises until 1 November. On 13 September, we added new information on nib, Health Partners and Mildura. On 26 October 2022, reflected the change in the date of premium rises for Medibank and ahm.
This information was sourced from health.gov.au and online research on 30 March.
Time-limited deals to avoid premium rises in 2022
There's another reason to switch now. Even if your fund is delaying its premium increase, there are some great sign-up deals around – some of which are only available until (Thursday) 31 March.
It's easy to move between health funds. Start the process by comparing health insurance now.
