Consumer advocacy group Choice says private health funds should dump their upcoming October price rises, due to sustained “mega profits” in the industry.
Dean Price, Choice health campaigner, said reports that private health funds made mega profits out of COVID-19 showed it should provide some relief to Australians.
“This is disgraceful. Funds are charging full price while not delivering the full range of healthcare services,” Price said.
“They can’t get away with doing the bare minimum while raking in these profits. The October price rises must be scrapped for the good of the community.
“To increase people's premiums on 1 October, as most funds plan to do, would be cruel in light of these abnormal profits.”
Price criticised health funds for promises made back as early as April, for returning profits to members but never stating how they would do it.
“This industry has played an aggressive game of PR bluster – promising to return abnormal profits at the start of the COVID-19 crisis and then backtracking, deflecting and going on the attack to avoid their promise,” Price said.
“The community doesn’t need games right now - put money back in people’s pockets so they can get through this crisis”.
Not-for-profit HBF was the only insurer that had given any relief, with a 12 month pause on premium increases.
“All health funds need to join HBF in deferring the 2020 premium increase for the full year,” Price said.
Comments
The only disgrace here is Choice suggesting to people that they should be uninsured.....to be clear not everyone makes a profit from being insured. That is not how it works.....insurance is to cover people against unforeseen circumstances or events. Maybe Choice can suggest how people can cover large medical bills when this happens??? - sell your house, exhaust your Super??
Where in this article does it say Choice are suggesting to people that they should be uninsured?
I often don't agree with Choice but in this case they are putting pressure on the insurers to pass on some of the profits they are making from people not using health services at the moment.
Yea exactly they are not saying to drop health insurance, they are telling insurance companies to stop being so greedy and jacking up premiums which obviously isnt necessary due to the fact that profits are at record highs, so increased premiums are not being used for some operational cost or increased risk etc event but to increase net profit.
This is the problem with insurance companies they say Australians are under insured but then do things like this which discourages people from getting insurance, of course every company needs to make a profit to remain sustainable but I feel the price of insurance needs to be regulated like utility prices are regulated to ensure premiums are only increasing for genuine reasons of increased risk/operational costs etc not solely to boost profits and therefore the managements pay as it is linked to profit increases
Healthcare funds - value for money? Only if old and have medical conditions.
Better to get your financial advisor to work out a regular savings plan for potential healthcare needs and keep the profits from earnings (rather than putting in someone's pockets. Surprising more financial advisors are not pushing this approach.
Explain the numbers behind your idea Hedware please. i am looking forward to seeing your skills.
So tell me, how would you implement your strategy.
i'd like to know who your licensee is. i also have a similar idea. i want to tell Australians 2/3rd of whom are obese to start fasting one day a week and start a plant-based diet.
please let me know who your licensee is if you are an AR
hey wait a minute are you saying I am obese.?
but I kid, I like your plan. it's better than cancelling health insurance.
Hedware is not a financial adviser. He is a union super troll.
Once you include the private health insurance rebate, and not having to pay the medicare levy surcharge, this idea of saving instead for anyone who earns over 90k becomes obsolete.
So Choice are giving general advice now to consumers.
It is one thing to assess a product or service and provide the results of that assessment, but it is a whole new world of then suggesting or recommending that people act in a certain manner and using the findings as a catalyst to do so.
Choice are nothing more than an assessment tool for consumers, however, they see themselves as much, much more than that.
Choice are now an activist organisation and rather than just providing a so called independent analysis, they are now trying to skew consumer and public sentiment in a direction that may satisfy their own ideals and position.
On many occasions, we have seen Choice stepping way over the mark and so this particular matter is unsurprising.
They are aggressive and self interested and one would have to question if they are acting in the best interest of their members.
and they have embedded their activists everywhere and poisoned the mind of the regulator who sees financial planners as a nuisance to be rid of
and they are putting Reds under our beds.
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