HEALTH – AUSTRALIA

ACCC slams health insurers

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 26-Jun-18

Complaints to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman rose by 30 per cent in 2016-17, with benefit payments again attracting the most complaints. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s acting chair Delia Rickard says the health insurance sector needs to become more transparent about its policies if it wants to restore consumer trust. Australians paid around $A23.1 billion in health insurance premiums in 2016-17, an increase of $A1 billion over the previous year.

CORPORATES
PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, HBF HEALTH LIMITED

Over 250,000 didn’t renew private health insurance

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-May-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that an estimated 256,000 Australians aged 14+ decided not to renew their private health insurance in the year to March 2018. This compares with 182,000 in the year to March 2017, making it the highest number for the last five years. Some 53.3% of consumers said the main reason for dropping out of health insurance was because it was "too expensive", up from 47.1% in the previous year; this was followed by "too much out of pocket expense", citied by 19.1% of consumers, up from 12.8% in 2017. An analysis of the individual major health funds shows that cost ("too expensive") is generally the main reason for each that members do not renew.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

HBF exits policy ranking websites

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 3 : 14-May-18

HBF has estimated that comparison websites received more than $A150m in commissions from private health insurers in 2016-17. HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen believes that the cost of using comparison websites is contributing to a rise in health insurance premiums. The not-for-profit fund will cease marketing its products via comparison websites. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s deputy chair Delia Rickard says many consumers may not be aware that health insurers pay commissions to attract new customers.

CORPORATES
HBF HEALTH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INTERMEDIARIES ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Emergency key to $1bn costs shift

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Original article by Sean Parnell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Apr-18

Health insurers claim that they are being billed more $A1 billion a year for treatments in public hospitals that patients are otherwise entitled to receive for free. Much of the problem appears to lie with emergency admissions, with a 144 per cent increase in private emergency admissions over the past decade. The number of public patient admissions in the same period has only risen by 26 per cent. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has made it known that he wants changes to the way that emergency departments operate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Health insurance industry distrusted by Australians

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Mar-18

Healthcare professions consistently rank as the most respected in Australia and have done so since 1994, when Roy Morgan started measuring honesty and ethics. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists and dentists are consistently at the top of the list. Yet the private health insurance industry, with its member touchpoints embedded in this trusted health ecosystem, is itself distrusted. According to a new landmark survey, private health insurance is more distrusted than it is trusted by Australians. In Net Trust Score (NTS) surveys conducted by the Roy Morgan Research Institute between Oct 2017 and Feb 2018, the health insurance industry recorded a negative NTS of -2.6%. In relation to other industries, it is lower than retail and travel, sitting between gambling, real estate and FMCG. The Roy Morgan Private Health Insurance Tracker survey reveals that while the most trusted funds are BUPA and Medibank Private, they are also the most distrusted, with BUPA being more distrusted than it is trusted.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

Favourable attitudes toward private health insurance

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Mar-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Australians aged +14 with private health insurance have generally positive attitudes towards the industry. Some 71.3% of private health insurance fund members agree with the statement that "it gives me peace of mind", while 74.3% agree that "It’s knowing that you’ll cover the cost of big medical expenses" and 60.7% say "It’s essential to have". In addition to these major positive attitudes, there are some areas of concerns: 43.9% agree that "It is difficult to understand what you are covered for" and 23.3% agree that "I want the cheapest and don’t care provider". Meanwhile, millennials are well above average in agreeing to issues that relate to the cost of private health insurance.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Health merger takes on majors

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 20-Feb-18

Health insurance industry leaders forecast further consolidation in the sector after HCF and HBF revealed plans to merge. They are currently Australia’s two largest not-for-profit health funds, and the merged entity would boast $A4bn worth of assets, about 2.5 million members and a market share of around 18.4 per cent. HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen says the merged group would have a greater chance of ensuring that premium increases are kept in line with the inflation rate. He adds that both funds have had the industry’s lowest premium increases in 2018.

CORPORATES
THE HOSPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS FUND OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HBF HEALTH LIMITED, BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

High satisfaction with private health insurance claims

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Feb-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey of Australians aged +14 with private health insurance has found that overall satisfaction with private health insurance funds was 71.0% in the year to December 2017, compared with 73.6% in 2016. The survey also shows that the satisfaction level of people who made a health insurance claim was 88.8% in 2017. The high level of satisfaction with claims suggests that the decrease in satisfaction is more likely the result of increased premiums rather than problems with claims. Only around 5% of fund members switch private health insurance funds due to problems with claims, with the main reasons given by over 70% for changing funds are the high cost and increased premiums.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Shorten war on business

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 31-Jan-18

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has committed to establishing a national anti-corruption commission if Labor wins the next federal election. He has also signalled plans to either increase the minimum wage or replace it with a so-called "living wage". Meanwhile, business groups have expressed concern over Shorten’s proposal to rebalance enterprise bargaining laws in favour of workers. Private health insurance companies will also be targeted by Shorten, while he has ruled out supporting the Federal Government’s company tax cuts package.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Health premium rises tipped

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 15 : 18-Jan-18

There is speculation that private health insurance premiums will rise by an average of four per cent in 2018. Macquarie Group analysts estimate that Medibank and NIB will increase their premiums by an average of 3.85 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively. Macquarie has increased its share price targets for both insurers. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt expects the lowest increase in health insurance premiums for 17 years. He will announce the premium increases in the next several weeks.

CORPORATES
MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED