19 March 2026
A CHOICE analysis of the big five health funds – Bupa, HCF, HBF, Medibank and nib – has found some Australians with private health insurance could face premium increases of up to 25%, far above the government-approved average rise of 4.41%.
“As the cost of living crisis continues, many Australians will find themselves hit with yet another extra cost this April, when health insurance premiums rise. To make matters worse, it will be the largest average hike in premiums CHOICE has seen since 2017,” says CHOICE health insurance expert, Mark Blades.
Earlier this month, the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, announced a 4.41% average premium increase for health insurance policies. However, CHOICE experts say the advertised average increase does not reflect the true cost many Australian consumers will face.
“The average increase to premiums of 4.41% is just that – an average. Our analysis has revealed a huge difference between the increases consumers will face, depending on the level of policy they hold, particularly those with top-level Gold insurance,” says Blades.
“Of the five largest health funds, HCF has the biggest increase of 25% for its ‘Hospital Optimal Gold’ cover across all states and territories. HCF customers holding this policy will be facing costs more than five times the advertised average,” says Blades.
“For Australians on Basic, Bronze and Silver policies, our analysis shows increases ranging from 2.6% to 3.3% on average, while Gold policies across the largest funds will increase by an average of 13.3%,” says Blades.
CHOICE experts also analysed health insurance price increases over the past five years. Despite the average ‘government-approved’ cumulative increase of 14.8% during this time, prices for Gold cover across the five largest funds have increased by a massive 71.1%.
“The higher price increases for these Gold policies are partly caused by ‘phoenixing’, where insurers close older policies to new members and open new, identical policies with the same name at a higher price,” says Blades.
“The government introduced legislation last month to outlaw the sneaky ‘phoenixing’ loophole used by insurers. Unfortunately, we are still seeing top-level cover becoming increasingly unaffordable. The proportion of Australians holding comprehensive cover has dropped significantly, from 39% in 2020 to 28% at the end of 2025, largely due to price hikes,” says Blades.
“We highly recommend consumers prepay their policy for 12 months before their fund increases the price, if they’re able to. By doing this, you can secure some savings and delay the 2026 price increase,” says Blades.
