Members Health Fund Alliance

Members Health Fund Alliance is one of the big peak bodies for the health insurance industry, representing most of Australia's not-for-profit health funds.

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By

Gary Ross Hunter

Edited by

Tim Bennett

Updated

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Key takeaways

  • Members Health Fund Alliance is the peak body for most not-for-profit health funds.
  • MHFA funds tend to offer good value for money, especially on hospital policies.

What is Members Health Fund Alliance?

Members Health Fund Alliance refers to a group of not-for-profit health funds, including both open health funds and some restricted health funds, dedicated to reinvesting profits back in its membership. What this means is that Members Health Fund Alliance branded organisations pay a larger proportion of premiums back to members in the form of benefits and claims paid.

What's the difference between for-profit funds and not-for-profit funds?

  • For-profit funds. While all health funds are obligated to remain financially viable so they can honour claims made by customers, this fund type also needs to deliver profits to the business owners, which may include another health fund or overseas corporation.
  • Not-for-profit funds. Like the name suggests, these funds transfer a larger share of the profits to members and are also required to maintain transparency so everyone can see where the money goes. This fund type is typically able to offer lower premiums or additional benefits to members as a result.

How well do Members Health Fund Alliance health funds perform?

According to data from the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC), on average Members Health Fund Alliance health funds give more back to their members than the major commercial health funds in relation to premiums paid. However, the benefits of Members Health Fund Alliance health funds might be even better evidenced by the lower rate of complaints and a higher retention rate, suggesting that they might do a better job of satisfying customers with both price and service.

Performance statisticMHFA fundsNon-MHFA funds
Benefits paid to members relative to premiums82.51%81.98%
Member retention rate86.75%82.70%

Which health funds are Members Health Fund Alliance?

There are 29 Members Health Fund Alliance health funds, although some are owned by the same parent fund. Many are restricted to certain occupations or groups, and their families, while others are open to all Australians. That's most of Australia's not-for-profit health funds, but not all. As of writing, GMHBA and Frank aren't members of MHFA.

FundRestricted or Open?
ACA Health Benefits FundRestricted
Australian UnityOpen
CBHSRestricted
Defence HealthRestricted
Doctors HealthRestricted
Emergency Services HealthRestricted
HBFOpen
HCIOpen
HCIOpen
Health PartnersOpen
HIFOpen
Hunter Health InsuranceOpen
Latrobe Health ServicesOpen
MilduraOpen
Navy HealthRestricted
Nurses & Midwives HealthRestricted
PeoplecareOpen
Phoenix HealthOpen
Police HealthRestricted
Queensland Country HealthOpen
Reserve Bank Health SocietyRestricted
rt health fundRestricted
St LukesOpen
Teachers Health FundRestricted
Transport HealthOpen
TUHRestricted
UniHealthRestricted
Union HealthOpen
WestfundOpen

Are not-for-profit health funds better?

The ideal health fund is one that can deliver the right benefits and the right value. Because all health funds are different it can be worth comparing all the options, both commercial and not, and nonprofits within and without the Members Health Fund Alliance network. Commercial health funds, for example, will often be larger than the non-profits, and able to deliver a scale that non-profits might not. For example, a frequent traveller might benefit from the larger private hospital networks maintained by commercial health funds.

Finder survey: Do people trust private health insurance funds?

ResponseMaleFemale
Yes54.58%53.26%
No45.42%46.74%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023

Sources

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.
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Journalist

Gary Ross Hunter has over 6 years of expertise writing about insurance, including life, health, home, and car insurance. Having reviewed hundreds of product disclosure statements and published over 800 articles, he loves simplifying complex insurance topics for everyday readers. Gary has contributed to major outlets like Yahoo Finance, The Sydney Morning Herald, and news.com.au, and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English Literature from the University of Glasgow, along with a Tier 2 General Advice certification, ensuring his work adheres to ASIC’s RG146 standards. See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 574 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living
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