Media Releases

Health insurance premiums will rise by an average of 4.41% from April 1, reflecting rising claims and higher costs of delivering healthcare.

Private Healthcare Australia has welcomed the Federal Government’s legislation to upgrade the Medical Costs Finder website, saying it is a critical step toward tackling Australia’s growing specialist fee crisis.

Australians are demanding urgent action to curb rising medical specialist fees which are forcing a growing number of people to delay or abandon vital medical care.

Australian private health insurers have returned almost $4.8 billion to members in claims savings and givebacks since the Covid-19 pandemic, independent figures released today show.

Health insurers paid out a record $9.4 billion in ‘high claims’ for hospital treatment exceeding $10,000 in 2024, a new analysis of health fund data shows.

Australians are facing soaring medical bills for common private hospital procedures, with some costing nine times more than they did five years ago, data from Private Healthcare Australia (PHA) shows.

Data on private hospital licenses and expansions shows Australia’s private mental health sector is continuing to expand.

ACT residents with private health insurance are being hit with excessive out-of-pocket costs for opting to use their insurance in a public hospital.

Canberrans with health insurance will be slugged $180 a year from January – or $360 for families – after the ACT Government quietly increased its so-called ‘ambulance levy’ in this year’s Budget.

Australians seeking healthcare in the private sector have been slugged with a 9% surge in hospital out-of-pocket fees over the past year, driven largely by increased charges from medical specialists, data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) shows.

The Australian Government should ban the use of spinal cord stimulators for pain after research reveals one-in-three people are having revision surgery for complications that can end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Health funds have welcomed a legislative change today that will allow rebates to be paid for a range of natural therapies clinical treatments.

Health insurers are delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in additional payments to private hospitals to help them through a challenging period of rising costs and a shift towards more technology driven out-of-hospital care.

The rising cost to see some specialist doctors in the community, such as psychiatrists, obstetricians and cardiologists, is decimating demand for private hospitals and undermining the value of health insurance for 15 million Australians.

Medicare data shows the number of Australians consulting medical specialists in the community has fallen 10% over the past five years as some doctors charge more than $900 for a first appointment.

More health fund members will be able to access funded group exercise from April 1 thanks to a change to the schedule of services provided by accredited exercise physiologists.

Private health insurers paid private hospitals a record $12.3 billion for Australians’ health care in the year to March, data released by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show.

People in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland are being hit with the highest out-of-pocket fees for private medical care in Australia, new data reveals.

About 11,000 specialist doctors will be obliged to publish their fees on the Government’s Medical Costs Finder website in a big win for consumers.

Too many Australians are being hit with unexpected medical bills and excessive fees from specialist doctors who are sometimes charging more than $950 for a single appointment.