More affordable health insurance for young Australians

Young Australians will have access to more affordable private health insurance with Medibank and ahm introducing a discount for young adults.

The biggest Government reforms to the Private Health Insurance industry in almost 20 years come into effect today.

Medibank and ahm are leading the way by adopting all the Government’s optional recommendations on top of those mandated.

Chief Customer Officer David Koczkar said 150,000 customers aged between 18 to 29 will have a discount of up to 10 per cent automatically applied to their hospital cover today.

“This is great news for our younger customers who we know are looking for more affordable cover.”

“A 24-year-old on Medibank Gold Complete cover can save around $170 per year on their premium.”

Our data shows that young people under 30 still need health insurance, with mental health treatment and orthopaedic surgery included in the top claims made over the last five years.

“Many young people think illness or injury won’t happen to them, but Medibank and ahm paid out more than $153 million in hospital-related benefits over the last financial year for customers between the ages of 18 to 30.

“Taking out cover at a young age not only gives our customers peace of mind, but now they hold onto the discount of up to 10 per cent until the age of 41, even if they change cover.”

From today, Medibank and ahm customers also have the option to choose a higher excess of $750 for singles and up to $1,500 for couples and families to save even more on their premium.

As part of the Government reforms, all customers with a hospital policy will be transitioned over the next year onto Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic product tiers.

“We are reaching out to our customers about these changes and encouraging them to contact us if they have any questions about the potential impact of the Government’s reforms and to review their level of cover if needed.

“We have added extra resources to our contact centres to support our customers through the reforms,” Mr Koczkar said.