Poll shows that private health insurers put profits before patients

A public opinion poll shows that almost 80% of Australians strongly agree or agree with the statement “private health insurers put profits before patients”.

Recent Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) data shows private health funds managed to boost premium revenues by 6.4% and profit before tax by 8.9% in the year to June. But reimbursements to their members rose by just 5.3%.

The ReachTEL polling of 1144 residents found that 69.2% have considered downgrading or dropping their policy in the past 12 months because it does not represent good value for money.

Some 75.4% of people aged 18-34 years of age have considered downgrading or dropping their policy in the past 12 months. This supports findings from APRA showing a decline in membership from 47.4% to 47.0% in the year to June 2016.

The polling was commissioned by the Medical Technology Association of Australia.