This paper gives an overview of rises in private health insurance premiums over the last decade.

Early each year the Health Minister announces the average increase to health insurance premiums following the Government’s assessment of applications for increases from health insurers. This announcement invariably attracts considerable media attention. Insurers may subsequently advise their members that they face premium rises higher than the figure announced by the Minister (which is an industry-wide average). Those consumers who feel aggrieved then may be prompted to make a complaint to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.

This background note, which also updates an earlier paper, gives an overview of rises in private health insurance premiums over the last decade. It also outlines possible reasons for premium increases and for variations across individual funds, and outlines regulatory changes around premium increases that may have affected reporting of these rises.