Members Health Fund Alliance (Members Health) has welcomed the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's (APRA) private health insurance statistics, particularly the rise in the number of members.
According to APRA, health funds recorded a tenth consecutive quarter of membership growth. Specifically, the number of people with cover for hospital treatment rose by 52,002 in the December 2022 quarter, while those with extras cover for dental, optical, and physio increased by 52,355.
For the year ended December 2022, the number of people with cover for hospital treatment increased by 2.2% or 250,311 people, bringing the total number of Australians covered to 11,815,119. Moreover, 14,409,934 people have cover for extras, which means well over half of the Australian population are members of health insurance funds.
Members Health has welcomed APRA's PHI statistics for the December 2022 quarter and the year ended December 2022.
Members Health CEO Matthew Koce said the latest report demonstrates the enormous value Australians “attach to fast, dependable, high-quality healthcare.”
“The sustained growth in private health insurance membership highlights the strong demand for choice and control in healthcare among an increasing number of Australians,” Koce said.
“Private health insurance plays a crucial role in supporting Australians by providing timely access to high-quality healthcare services while easing the pressure on our public system for those who need it most.
“Millennials, by far the largest generation in Australia, are entering the age at which they want to start a family, and this will also be contributing to the sustained growth in policyholder numbers that we are experiencing.”
Over the past five years, Members Health has experienced dramatic growth, with hospital cover numbers from September 2022 having increased by 10.09% or 451,595 persons. By contrast, the rest of the industry has decreased by 0.10% or 7,066 persons over the same period.
Among people under 45 years old, the group of not-for-profit and member-owned funds have grown hospital cover by 6.99% or 157,352 persons. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry contracted by 2.23% or 88,021 persons.
“Members Health funds cover more than 5 million Australians, with the group experiencing prolonged growth that has outpaced the rest of the industry average,” Koce said. “We put this growth down to people wanting to be part of our not-for-profit ethos and our desire to give back more in benefits, customer services, and connection to communities.
“When people join a Members Health fund, they get access to high-quality healthcare, support for their wellbeing, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing their premiums go towards caring for their health, not the hip pockets of shareholders and overseas investors.”
Aside from releasing its 2022 PHI data, APRA outlined its plans for the industry.
APRA executive board member Suzanne Smith revealed that APRA aims to improve the PHI industry's cyber resilience, considering the impact of Medibank's cyber incident. It will also intensify its supervision of all entities not meeting the Information Security Prudential Standard CPS 234.
