15 March 2019: Commonwealth Ombudsman releases State of the Health Fund Report 2018

State of the Health Funds Report 2018

Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe today released the State of the Health Funds report detailing comparative information on the performance and service delivery of health funds during 2017-18.

The information in this report together with the consumer website privatehealth.gov.au assists consumers to choose health insurance policies that better meet their individual needs.

‘Benefits, membership and service have continued to be the most common issues consumers have complained about to my Office’, Mr Manthorpe said ‘However, it is pleasing to note that the number of complaints made to my Office declined by 21 per cent in 2017–18 to 4,553, which is a significant reduction compared to 5,750 in 2016–17’.

Unexpected exclusions and restrictions in Hospital policies also continued to be an issue of concern to consumers.

The State of the Health Funds Report makes note of the new private health insurance reforms which take effect from 1 April 2019. These reforms will see standardisation of clinical categories and aim to provide more certainty of coverage. More information about these changes is available at privatehealth.gov.au and health.gov.au/private-health-reforms.