Here are some of the most interesting health insurance statistics we've found to help you stay ahead of the game in 2024. We'll endeavour to keep this page updated with new numbers as they come out.
44.9% of Australians (12.1 million people) have private hospital cover
54.6% of Australians (14.7 million people) have private extras cover
The chart below shows the changing coverage rates of hospital and extras cover. Coverage rates for both hospital and extras insurance had been dropping steadily but went back up after 2020. It's likely this was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2024 health insurance price rises
The price of health insurance increases every year, generally on the 1st of April. The 3.03% average premium increase in 2024 is a bit higher than 2.9% last year. Many funds also decided to delay price increases to later in the year. They say this is a way to return savings to members, as a result of savings during the covid-19 pandemic.
The cost of private health insurance in going up all the time. Every year the government has to approve the price rises that the insurance funds apply for. These numbers have jumped around a lot, as they reflect the ongoing cost of providing medical insurance to Australians, and are affected by macro economic trends like inflation.
A survey by Roy Morgan reveals that more Australians are checking out other companies before renewing their household insurance policies. In June 2023, 66.1% of the 29 million policies were renewed without looking into alternatives. This shows a slight drop from 66.5% in June 2022 and a more significant decrease from 67.2% in the fiscal year ending June 2021, marking a 1.1% reduction over two years.
Benefits paid by health insurers
In December 2023, insurers paid a total of $4.47 billion in hospital treatment benefits, with an average of $1,433.23 per person, according to APRA. The largest portion of benefits per person was allocated to hospital accommodation and medical costs, followed by medical services and prostheses benefits.
During the same quarter, the average out-of-pocket payment for a hospital stay stood at $410.67. Among specialty groups, plastic/reconstructive procedures incurred the highest out-of-pocket expenses, averaging $727.39 per episode.
Health insurance complaints
Australia's Commonwealth Ombudsman publishes detailed reports of complaints received by health insurance funds. It publishes a yearly report in around March each year, covering the complaints received in the previous calendar year. The most recent yearly report was published in March 2022, looking at 2022 data.
We've weighted the complaints received by each health funds against market share. This chart below ranks funds based on this ratio - the lower the number, the better. We've only included funds here with a national market share of at least 0.5%.
Australian health funds market share
The following pie chart shows the market share of Australia's biggest health funds. This data was released by the Commonwealth Ombudsman in April 2022, and represents national market share from 2021.
Note that Medibank and ahm are both classified as 'Medibank' in this data – Medibank owns ahm. Also, note that the 'Other' field only includes funds with at least a 0.10% market share. As such, the percentages do not add up to 100%.
Health insurance statistics for previous years
Why you can trust Finder's health insurance experts
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Since 2014, we've helped 350,000+ people find health insurance by explaining your options simply. We'll never ask for your number or email to see prices. We're here to help you make a decision.
Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more.
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