Several questions remain unasked in the ongoing debate about healthcare affordability in Australia.
Why have only private health insurance premiums reliably kept up with inflation among all the major healthcare cost components: doctor’s fees, Medicare benefits, private insurance benefits, government health funding, and public hospital salaries?
Is this true?
Health Insurance Premiums: Always Rising
There’s no debate here: private health insurance premiums have risen almost every single year and nearly always at a rate above the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Over the last 28 years, there have only been six where inflation was higher than the average industry premium increase.
Between 2002 and 2024, private health insurance premiums increased by 5.1% annually, even as inflation averaged almost half that (2.74%) over the same 22-year period.
Private insurers justify these increases by pointing to rising treatment costs, increased service use, and an ageing population. While these are all factors, the consistent premium increases have still allowed record profits among the biggest insurers: BUPA, one of Australia's Big Two with Medibank Private, recently reported over AU$ 900 million in profit in the Asia Pacific region.
✅ Conclusion:
Yes, health insurance premium increases have exceeded inflation.
