Posted by Michael Wonder on 27 Jan 2017
Health insurers, customers hope for a win on premium increases
27 January 2017 - New health minister Greg Hunt could look to score a “win” with consumers and approve the lowest average health insurance rate increase in a decade.
As insurers wait for the new health minister to sign off on this year’s annual premium increase, analysts have suggested a new minister taking on the portfolio at such a late stage in the process had the potential to complicate the outcome.
“It is possible that a new minister may want to minimise political attention at this time but he could also try to use this opportunity to score a win for consumers by approving the lowest average rate increase in a decade,” Citi analyst Nigel Pittaway said.
