Australian health insurance statistics at a glance | CHOICE (2024)

FAQs

Australian health insurance statistics at a glance | CHOICE? ›

In 2023: 54.6% of Australians have extras cover. 44.8% of Australians have hospital cover. most people have a combined health insurance policy.

As at 30 June 2023, approximately 55% of the Australian population, had some form of health insurance. The proportion of the population holding hospital only or combined cover increased by 0.2% in the year to June 2023, while the proportion holding extras cover only remained steady over the same period.

Australia Provides Foundation of Health Care Access for All

However, Australia consistently performs better than the U.S. on key metrics like life expectancy, infant mortality, and maternal mortality, while spending a much smaller percentage of GDP.

Key Points. While large numbers of Australians have private health insurance (44.6% hospital cover, 53.9% general cover), membership has faced declines in recent years. Nearly 3% fewer Australians have hospital cover in December 2018 than in 2015. General cover has also been declining.

Worryingly, about 9% in 2018 and 6% in 2021 said they could not pay for needed health care or medicines over the past 12 months.

Australia ranks first among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries for equity and healthcare outcomes, and holds third place for overall healthcare performance, behind Norway and the Netherlands.

How much does health insurance cost? The average cost of combined hospital and extras health insurance for a single person is: 'young person' under 36 years old – $3,261 a year (about $271/mth) 'established person' between 36 and 59 – $3,764 a year (about $313/mth)

This is being driven by population ageing, expensive medical interventions, community expectations and the rise in the incidence of chronic diseases. While Australia has a good health system by international standards, rising health costs represent an obstacle to future reform.

Health Insurance works alongside Australia's public health system. At its best, it provides people with more choices for healthcare. It can also offer some pretty attractive tax benefits. For millions of Aussies, the cost of regular premiums is worth it for the benefits they get.

Which country is #1 in quality healthcare? ›

The Best Healthcare Systems in the World in 2024

According to this assessment, what country has the best healthcare? Singapore comes in at No. 1! Japan and South Korea came in 2nd and 3rd.

Healthcare in Australia

Essential and urgent hospital treatment is free. There is a charge to visit GPs and receive prescriptions. You can recover some costs through Medicare, Australia's universal health insurance scheme. You can enrol with Medicare through Services Australia.

Expatriates in Australia who aren't permanent residents are responsible for their own healthcare costs. This includes expatriates in Australia on most work visas. People moving to Australia should carry their own private global health insurance policy to cover their healthcare costs.

The Australian insurance market is grappling with several critical challenges, it said. These include considerable financial losses attributed to extended coverage claims and natural disasters, exacerbated by soaring claims inflation, and an uptick in climate-related incidents.

Medicare is Australia's universal health insurance scheme. It guarantees all Australians (and some overseas visitors) access to a wide range of health and hospital services at low or no cost.

Almost one in 10 (9%) Australians required health insurance in the past three years and were forced to shell out an average of AUS$225 (£118) as a result of not having it, according to research released by Finder. That represents 2.3 million people out of Australia's population of about 26 million.

The study also found only 30%-37% of Australians aged 18-69 held life insurance. And only 11-18% held disability cover, income protection insurance, or critical illness and trauma cover.

The answer is based on your status as a citizen or resident of Australia. For citizens and permanent residents, Australian health care can be low-cost or free. The costs of healthcare in Australia are covered through taxes. Residents pay 2% of their income to the Medicare Levy, which funds the public system.