Aussies slugged with extra $436 every year

Aussies will be slugged up to $436 extra a year after the Albanese Government approved some of the biggest price increases in years.

Families will be slugged up to $436 extra a year for health insurance by the nation’s largest insurer after the Albanese Government approved some of the biggest increases in years.

The price hikes will slash the value of the new tax cuts offered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for middle income earners in half for Medibank members on the most expensive product: Gold membership cover with extras.

Fees will rise by $16.80 a fortnight or $436 a year for these customers. Families on silver cover will see their fees rise by around $300 a year.

The cost of living issue emerged on Tuesday after Medibank announced its health insurance premiums will increase by an average of 3.31 per cent on April 1, following approval by the Federal Health Minister.

Mr Butler defended the delay in announcing the increases until after the by-election.

“I wasn’t prepared to just tick and flick the claims of health insurers, as the Opposition was urging me to do,” he said.

“I asked insurers to go back and sharpen their pencils and put forward a more reasonable offer for the 15 million Australians with private health insurance.

Three stacks of Australian one dollar coins on a background of bank notes. Shallow depth of field focus on tallest stack., cash money generic

“While we know that any increase will be hard to bear during a global cost of living crunch, the Albanese Government has ensured that health insurance premiums will fall relative to Australians’ wages and Labor’s tax cuts mean all Australian taxpayers will get a tax cut on 1 July, so Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn.”

The price hike equates to a $2.30 rise per fortnight for a single on a bronze hospital and extras policy or $11.80 per fortnight for a family on a silver hospital and extras policy.

Annually, that will increase the cost for the family on silver hospital and extras by $306.

“We know many households are doing it tough at the moment, and our focus has been to balance the impact of rising health costs with the need to keep premiums affordable for our customers,” Medibank Chief Customer Officer Milosh Milisavljevic said

“Premium increases are never welcome, which is why we have worked hard to ensure this year’s is as low as it can be, despite rising health costs in the private system. It’s also lower than the price rises seen in other insurances, such as car and house insurance.

“Over the past six years, we have taken out more than $100 million in expenses to keep our own costs down, which helps keep premium increases low for our customers.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston accused the Albanese Government of waiting until after the Dunkley by-election to announce increases to private health insurance premiums.

“The Prime Minister had an opportunity to be honest with the Australian public last week, but instead we saw more lies from Anthony Albanese,” she said.

Minister For Health And Aged Care, Mark Butler. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“He has blatantly delayed this announcement, with no apology to the more than 14 million Australians who need to prepare for this additional cost as they already struggle to pay the bills under Labor.

“Australian families just cannot afford this Government’s wrong priorities. They will always be paying more under Labor, and this hidden price hike is just another example.”

The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff said the onus is now squarely on the health insurance companies to ensure the ongoing viability of Australia’s private hospitals.

“After suffering losses through Covid-19 enforced elective surgery restrictions, private hospital activity is not where we would expect, especially given there are now more than 850,000 additional Australians with hospital cover than prior to the pandemic,” he said.

“On top of this, health insurance payments have not kept pace with unavoidable cost increases experienced by hospitals. Private hospitals have reported growing workforce costs, along with higher than six per cent increases on those cost-of-living factors all Australians are familiar with – power, food and fuel.

“As a result, we have seen a rising number of private hospitals close, while others have stopped providing loss-making services like maternity care.”

Originally published as Aussies slugged with extra $436 every year