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The health insurance sector has seen a record additional 26,530 lives covered in the year ending September 30, according to the Health Funds Association of NZ (HFANZ).
HFANZ chief executive Roger Styles outlined that this is the fourteenth straight quarterly increase in lives covered since 2001. The number of New Zealanders with health insurance is now past the 1.4 million mark. The bulk of the increase was within the working age group, reflecting the continued growth in workers who are opting for health insurance packages that were partly funded by their employers.
“These latest figures take us back to levels higher than before the 2008 global financial crisis and hark back to 20 years ago when close to half the population had health insurance,” Styles said. “Back then most policies were comprehensive cover and offered reimbursements for things like GP and dental visits.
“Now around 70% of policies are for major medical or surgical and specialist cover, with insurers funding an increasing range of treatments,” he added.
Another key highlight for the sector is the 7.4% increase in annual premium income to $1.516 billion. Annual claims paid, meanwhile, totalled $1.263 billion, up 7.6% from September 2017 year.
