The government in Australia has given private health insurers the go-ahead to raise their premiums by 3.25% next year.
The rise, scheduled to be effective on 1 April 2019, is said to be the lowest since 2001.
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According to the government, the rate is lower than the “4.1 per cent inflation for medical and hospital services this year”.
For a single person, the change will result in an additional payment of $1.14 on a weekly basis. For a family, it will lead to an additional payment of $2.35 per week.
Health minister Greg Hunt said: “For a consumer on a $1,500 policy the savings will be up to $150 a year and for a young family on a $3,000 policy the savings will be up to $300 a year.”
Under the new rules by the government, private health insurers can also offer consumers aged between 18 and 29 years discounts of up to 10%.
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By GlobalDataAt the same time, product tiers in New Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic variants will be launched for hospital insurance products next year.
Hunt said: “Many Australians have taken advantage of a change introduced in April this year providing greater access to mental health services by allowing people to upgrade their hospital cover without serving a waiting period.
“Since 1 April this year Australians have been able to upgrade their existing insurance policies to access psychiatric services without serving a waiting period and have claimed more than $16.8 million in benefits. These results shows that the reform package our Government announced in October 2017 has had a real effect on the affordability of private health insurance.”
