The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published its latest Private Health Insurance Risk Equalisation statistics, highlighting a rise in health insurance deficits across all states.
Based on the 2023 data, all states encountered a rise in their gross deficits in comparison to the previous year.
New South Wales’ (NSW) situation is illustrative of this trend, with the gross deficit escalating to an approximate $2.66 billion, marking a rise from the $2.37 billion reported in 2022. Victoria also mirrored this pattern, with its deficit expanding to roughly $1.95 billion from the former $1.77 billion.
Continuing this upward trajectory, Queensland registered its deficit at about $1.67 billion, up from $1.59 billion in 2022.
Other states followed suit, with South Australia’s deficit climbing from around $556.97 million to $601.25 million, Western Australia from $771.22 million to $820.28 million, Tasmania from $171.20 million to $179.28 million, and the Northern Territory from $21.94 million to $24.85 million.
Notably, the annual net transfers and the actual transfers over four quarters also saw an increment, with 2023’s actual transfers nudging slightly higher to $420.98 million from $398.38 million in the preceding year.
Last month, APRA released its statistics for the private health insurance sector as of December 2023.
