Introduction

Australia has a public-private health system. Private health insurance (PHI) is a critical component of the Australian health care system: it is intended to assist with the costs of care in the private system, to support choice of private provider and to help take the pressure off public hospitals.

As just over half of all Australians are covered by some form of private health insurance, it is timely to consider whether consumers have the confidence that their policies are robust and will afford them access to critical treatments should the need arise. And as all taxpayers contribute to the Rebate, even though they may not be insured themselves, it is important to ask whether their contributions are being used to the greatest benefit of the health system at large.

The Government announced a review into private health insurance on 28 October 2015. In order to help inform the government’s review into private health insurance, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) launched the online survey on 6 November 2015, and it ran until 27 November 2015. CHF promoted the survey through its member organisations, publications and social media platforms. It was also highlighted in a number of other stakeholder newsletters and subscription media outlets.