Australia’s ageing population is driving increased demand for health insurance services. At the same time, customers are experiencing a rise in out-of-pocket expenses, with a swing away from private health cover. To help remedy this, the Australian Government has introduced a range of new healthcare reforms to make health insurance more accessible and affordable for customers. Throughout the year, Enlighten has gathered the data from Australia and came up with these healthcare factsheet.
State of play
- Australia’s public health system is struggling to cope with inadequate funding, increased waiting times and fewer beds.
- Around half of Australians currently hold private health cover, but the number is reducing.
- Private health funds paid out a combined total of $21,388 million in benefits in the 12 months to December 2019.
- A survey of more than 2,000 Australians conducted by finder.com.au found that 15 per cent of people are preparing to cancel their cover. Nearly half (44 per cent) blamed rising premium costs for their decision.
- A poll conducted by the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA) revealed that 77.9 per cent of Australians believe private health funds are motivated by money and put profits ahead of patients.
In response to demand for more accessible health insurance, Australian insurers are facing imperatives to drive down their administrative costs and improve customer service. Enlighten provides a rapid and efficient way to meet these objectives, well within a single budget year.
The back and middle-office functions of claims processing and member management provide excellent opportunities for much-needed improvements. Enlighten’s transformation program and its supporting SaaS analytics can provide the performance changes you are looking for, without the need to change your current IT systems or resort to disruptive outsourcing.
Over the course of 20 weeks, the program will transform your back-office culture. Your teams will be focused on performance and quality, fuelled by the visibility of performance metrics and analytics that activate results.
Sources
https://www.finder.com.au/health-insurance-statistics
https://www.apra.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-02/Quarterly%20private%20health%20insurance%20statistics%20December%202019.pdf
