Private health insurance membership increasing
The Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, says that those who made dire predictions of a drop in the number of people in private health insurance funds have been proved wrong.
She was commenting on the latest figures released by the Private Health Insurance Council for 2008-09 which show that the numbers of Australians taking out private health insurance continues to grow.
At the end of the 2008-09 financial year, 44.5% of all Australians were covered by private hospital insurance, an increase of 2.2% on June 2008 figures. During the financial year, premium revenue for the industry increased by 7.3% while benefits paid out to members increased by 9.3%.
Figures released towards the end of last year confirm strong membership figures are a continuing trend. At the end of the September 2009 quarter, 44.7% of all Australians were covered by private hospital insurance. This is the highest proportion of people with hospital insurance since December 2001.
The Government is taking action to ensure the private health insurance system remains strong into the future, by putting it on a fairer and more sustainable footing.
Currently the Government subsidises the private health insurance of all Australians, regardless of their income. Amendments proposed by the Rudd Government mean subsidies will be provided to those most in need, including all singles earning up to $120,000 per year, and couples on less than $240,000.
This means that receptionists and hospital cleaners would no longer have to subsidise the private insurance enjoyed politicians and millionaires.
Treasury modelling estimates that after these reforms 99.7% of people will remain in private health insurance thanks to the maintenance of incentives such as Lifetime Health Cover and the Medicare Levy Surcharge.
Making reforms such as this allows the Government the financial flexibility to invest in better services, new medicines and improved technology.
The Operations of the Private Health Insurers Annual Report 2008-09 is prepared by the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC) and is based on statistics collected by the Council throughout the financial year.
