Complaints about health premiums spike
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COMPLAINTS about private health insurers hiking premiums jumped 114 per cent in the March quarter compared with the same period 12 months ago, new figures reveal.
The news comes as doctors and funds argue changes to the Medicare levy surcharge, announced in this week’s budget, could lead to even greater premium increases if up to one million people abandon private cover.
The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman’s latest quarterly bulletin shows there were 62 complaints about premium increases in the first three months of 2008, compared with 29 in the first quarter of 2007.
“Most complaints about premium increases during the quarter were from members whose premium increase was above the 4.99 per cent average,” the bulletin says.
The rise is “significant” but off an “unusually low” base 12 months ago, the bulletin states.
Overall the ombudsman received 622 complaints about health insurers this quarter, an increase of 46 per cent on the previous quarter and a 4 per cent increase on the same period in 2007.
Article from: AAP
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