In this section...
Introduction
Introduction
This quarterly PHIAC publication, for the March 2009 quarter, shows the number of policies and insured persons covered by private health insurance for hospital treatment and general treatment and the proportion of the population these insured persons represent. Also in this publication are graphs and notes about the statistics.
The Statistics
Hospital Treatment adjusted for Gold Card:PHIAC compiles Hospital Treatment coverage statistics, adjusted for Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card. Those persons are unlikely to also hold private health insurance and the Australian population base eligible to take out private health insurance has been adjusted accordingly. This table shows that after the adjustment is applied, 45.1% of the population had private hospital cover at 31 March 2009.
State |
NSW(a) |
VIC |
QLD |
SA(a) |
WA |
TAS |
NT(a) |
AUST |
|
Percentage of Population |
46.2% |
43.5% |
42.9% |
45.1% |
50.8% |
43.9% |
34.4% |
45.1% |
Hospital Treatment: At 31 March 2009, 9,702,117 persons were covered by Hospital Treatment cover. The percent of the population covered was 44.6% at 31 March 2009, with no change compared to 31 December 2008. The increase in persons with private health insurance kept pace with the population growth.
State |
NSW(a) |
VIC |
QLD |
SA(a) |
WA |
TAS |
NT(a) |
AUST |
|
Percentage of Population |
45.8% |
43.1% |
42.4% |
44.7% |
50.4% |
43.2% |
34.3% |
44.6% |
|
Percentage Points Change |
0.0% |
-0.1% |
0.0% |
-0.1% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
There was an increase in coverage of 45,269 insured persons in the March 2009 quarter. Insured persons have increased every quarter since mid 2005. There was an increase of 16,537 single policies and an increase of 9,956 family policies during the quarter. There was a net increase of 26,493 hospital policies.
General Treatment: Changes in coverage of General Treatment should be viewed with caution. In the June 2007 quarter there was a break in the series with a change in classification of policies as a result of introduction of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007. In many cases policies previously classified as hospital treatment only policies have been reclassified as combined hospital treatment and general treatment policies. This reclassification caused an artificial increase in policies that include general treatment in the June and December 2007 quarters. At 31 March 2009, 11,140,653 persons or 51.3% of the population had some form of general treatment coverage, including coverage for CDMP, hospital substitute and ambulance only.
Included in this publication are data and graphs showing the age distribution of insured persons with General Treatment cover. The distribution of these insured persons is similar to the distribution of insured persons with Hospital Treatment cover.
Age Distribution: In the March 2009 quarter there were increases in most age groups. The largest increases were for insured persons aged 60 to 74. There were small decreases in the 30-34 and 45-49 age cohorts.
Lifetime Health Cover: The majority of adults with hospital cover (89.5%) have a certified age of entry of 30, with no penalty loading. However, the proportion of adults with hospital cover paying a loading has increased every quarter since the introduction of Lifetime Health Cover. At the end of the March 2009 quarter the percentage of adults paying a loading was 10.5%. At 31 March 2009 there were 730,393 persons with a certified age of entry of more than 30 and subject to the Lifetime Health Cover loading; a net increase in persons paying a penalty over the year of 94,246. There was a net increase in persons with a certified age of entry of 30 (with no penalty) over the year of 77,360.
Please contact PHIAC if you have any questions about these statistics.
Contact Officer:
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Contact Officers: |
Paul Collins |
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Director, Information and Statistics |
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Telephone: |
(02) 6215 7955 |
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Facsimile: |
(02) 6215 7977 |
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E-mail: |
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Postal Address: |
PO Box 4549 |