All health funds review members’ premiums each year. At ahm, our goal is to find the right balance of keeping our premium increases to a minimum to make sure we can provide affordable health cover options for our members.
Why do premiums change?
There are lots of factors that influence why premiums change. To put it simply, premiums are reviewed each year to help cover the cost of providing medical care to all Australians.
With the growing use and cost of medical technology, Australia’s ageing population and an increase in chronic health conditions, we need to keep up with these increasing healthcare costs to ensure that benefits can continue to be paid to our members.
Paying your premiums
You don’t need to do anything when your premium changes – your new premium will be automatically updated with your first payment on or after the change takes effect.
You can prepay your health insurance to lock in your current premium for the period you prepay. You can prepay up to 12 months of premiums. Find out more about how to prepay your premiums.
If you pay your premium from payroll deductions, we'll chat to your pay office so they can update the amount deducted.
Find out more about easy ways to pay your premiums.
Frequently asked questions
You can view your new premium by logging in to your account. You’ll see your updated premium under the ‘My cover’ section on the home screen. We’ll also send you a detailed communication before the premium change takes effect.
We've got a couple different policy suspension options to help provide support to members experiencing financial hardship. Click here for more information
Each year all health funds review their premiums. These changes are reviewed and approved by the Federal Government and Minister for Health. Premium increases reflect rising health costs, due to a range of factors including:
- Increased use and cost of health services
- The growing use and cost of medical technology
- Australia's ageing population
- An increase in chronic health conditions
- The Australian Government Rebate on private health insurance decreasing every year.
You'll receive a notification by letter or email that will tell you if your premium is changing and what it's changing to.
To change how we communicate with you, log in to your account and manage your preferences.
Just joined ahm? If you join after this notification is sent out, your new premium details will be sent to you in your cover certificate. If you make changes to your cover after this notification is sent out, your new premium details will be included in your change confirmation letter.
We review the premium of each product individually, then make adjustments that factor in the type of product (e.g. hospital or extras, claiming activity and the state that members live in). These adjustments ensure our products are sustainable and we can keep paying benefits towards member claims.
As a private health insurer in Australia, we have to meet the government's community rating requirements and ensure everyone has access to the same health insurance product at the same price, regardless of their health or claiming behaviour. This means, even if you rarely make a claim, your premium will change along with everyone else who holds the same product as you.
Lifetime Health Cover (LHC), the Youth Discount, the Australian Government Rebate and your place of residence are some of the exceptions to community rating.
You can prepay your health insurance to lock in your current premium for the period you prepay. You can prepay up to 12 months of premiums. Find out more about how to prepay your premiums.