Top Rated Health Insurance Providers In 2017

Canstar has researched and rated more than 12 million pieces of individual data from 21 health insurance providers to determine our national 2017 Outstanding Value Health Insurance Award winners.

To evaluate Canstar’s 2017 Outstanding Value Health Insurance Award winners, our research team analysed more than 220 million theoretical extras claims and 23,000 policy and premium combinations. After spending hundreds of hours analysing this data, Canstar has announced three National 2017 Outstanding Value Health Insurance Award winners (listed below in alphabetical order):

Health insurers in Australia

Keep reading to find out how and why each of these providers won Canstar’s 2017 Outstanding Value Health Insurance Award.

National Award Winners – Health Insurance

Bupa

Bupa established itself in the 1930s in Australia after being founded in the UK, and is a household name today in more than 190 countries. In addition to providing health insurance, Bupa also offers pet, car, life, travel and home insurance.

One of the keys to their success is their development of health insurance policies specifically targeted to the needs of people in different life stages through policies such as their Young Singles, Growing Families, and Live Well cover.

Bupa has received the national award for Outstanding Value Health Insurance this year, as well as two State Awards: Packaged Cover in South Australia and Hospital Cover in the Northern Territory. Bupa scored well all round in our ratings; their top hospital policy – which covers all Medicare-recognised services in private and public hospitals – was their top performing policy in the established and mature segments.

Bupa also offers highly rated budget hospital policies for young and established customer profiles, restricting cover in a number of areas to give a lower premium. In terms of extras cover Bupa is also highly rated:

• Your Choice Extras: allows you to choose the four extras services you will use the most
• Bronze Extras: covers general dental, optical, physiotherapy, natural therapies, ambulance, and non-PBS medicines
• Silver Extras: Covers all commonly claimed extras services and has no annual limits on preventative dental

You can view the health insurance options available to you from Bupa in the table below. Please note that this table has been sorted by star rating (highest to lowest) and was formulated based on a single male seeking hospital and extras health insurance based in NSW born in 1987:

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HCF

Established in 1932, HCF is a not-for-profit health fund committed to re-investing premiums back into products and services that benefit its members. It also provides life, travel and pet insurance, and offers discounts of 10% on these products to existing health insurance members.

In addition to taking out the National Award in 2017, HCF is also a winner of the following state awards:

• Packaged Cover in TAS
• Extras Cover in NSW, VIC, WA and SA
• Hospital Cover in SA and TAS

HCF scored well this year due to having a number of highly rated hospital and extras policies. It’s Mid Hospital policy for young and established life stages lowers premiums by restricting the number of inclusions, while its Premium Hospital policy for established and mature life stages has no excess payable on day surgery admissions.

Of its highly rated extras policies:

• Silver Plus Extras includes cover for general and major dental, optical, chiropractic, physiotherapy and natural therapies
• Gold Extras covers all services, with no limit on preventative dental
• Platinum Extras covers the same services as Gold Extras and pays high benefits

You can view the health insurance options available to you from HCF in the table below. Please note that this table has been sorted by star rating (highest to lowest) and was formulated based on a single male seeking hospital and extras health insurance based in NSW born in 1987:

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Medibank

Medibank was founded in 1976, recently celebrating its 40^th anniversary as a health insurer. Medibank also took out a number of state awards this year:

• Packaged Cover in NSW, QLD, WA and NT
• Extras Cover in QLD, TAS and NT
• Hospital Cover in NSW

Medibank’s highly rated hospital policies include its Hospital Essentials, Standard Hospital and Complete Hospital options. The Essentials policy scored highly for the young life stage, removing unnecessary items and including key inclusions for the younger demographic, such as appendicitis, accidents, knee and shoulder reconstruction and more.

The Standard Hospital and Complete Hospital policies cover all Medicare-recognised services in private and public hospitals, with the exception of hip/knee replacement, eye surgery, renal dialysis, weight loss surgery and IVF for the Standard Hospital policy.

Medibank’s extras policies are also highly rated  –  the Basic Extras 70 policy covers ambulance, optical, general dental, physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy and natural therapies, while the Top Extras 55 and 70 option is a full coverage policy that offers 55% or 70% back at networks depending on the option chosen.

You can view the health insurance options available to you from Medibank in the table below. Please note that this table has been sorted by star rating (highest to lowest) and was formulated based on a single male seeking hospital and extras health insurance based in NSW born in 1987:

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State Winners – Health Insurance

While Bupa, HCF and Medibank all won the 2017 national Outstanding Value Health Insurance Award for 2017, there are two other providers that took out state awards; HIF and Mildura.

HIF

Founded in 1954 as the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) Employees Hospital and Medical Benefits Fund Inc, HIF is a not-for-profit health fund with an ethical, member-based approach.

In this year’s Award, HIF took out Outstanding Value hospital cover in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Among its highest rated hospital policies are:

• GoldStarter Hospital – for young life stage: priced lower than some policies in the market that cover fewer services and covers all services that Medicare pays a benefit for.
• Gold Hospital – for established and mature life stages: offers shared-room coverage in all private hospitals in Australia for all services approved by Medicare and is competitive on premiums.

You can view the health insurance options available to you from HIF in the table below. Please note that this table has been sorted by star rating (highest to lowest) and was formulated based on a single male seeking hospital health insurance based in NSW born in 1987:

Mildura Health Fund

In 1926, Mildura Health Fund became the first health insurer of its nature in Victoria, where members paid either three pence (for a single) or six pence (for a family) to get free care in a public ward at the hospital. Today, Mildura Health Fund serves more than 30,000 members and remains a not-for-profit, member-owned fund.

In 2017, Mildura has taken out the Canstar Award for Outstanding Value Packaged Cover in Victoria. Its highest-rated hospital and extras policy – Five Star Hospital, Ancillary Plus and Dental (across all life stages) – offers members the following benefits:

• It pays benefits for all Medicare-approved services. Excess is waived for same day admissions at Mildura Private Hospital.
• Ancillary Plus and Dental covers all popular extras inclusions, as well as paying high benefits, particularly for dental services. Dental limits also increase significantly over time.

If you are interested in Mildura Health Insurance, see the below tables for current policies available in the market. Please note that these tables have been sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest) and were formulated based on a single male born in 1987 living in VIC:

Hospital cover

Extras cover 

The table below shows a state-by-state breakdown of our state winners.

While you can be confident in a health insurance policy from an Award-Winning provider, it is always worth making sure the policy you’re considering meets your particular needs and suits your circumstances by visiting our website to review your options. For help finding the right health insurance policy, use Canstar’s comparison tables:

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