14 June 2018 - Bill Shorten’s plan to freeze health insurance premium increases at 2% will add pressure to insurers’ margins unless the trend of lower claims growth continues.

Analysts at investment bank Macquarie have reviewed claims growth trends across the private health insurance market and concluded that one of the largest claims drivers was the number of workdays in a period.

The analysts explained in a client note that traditionally private health insurance premiums were determined by “cost push”, which meant that claims owing to additional workdays would lead to higher premium rate rises and therefore keep insurers’ margins relatively consistent.

Read The Australian article