Private Health Insurance reforms may affect you

On April 1 reforms to Private Health Insurance in Australia will come into effect. If you’re living with diabetes it will be worthwhile contacting your insurer to find out if the reforms will result in changes to your coverage, particularly if you rely on them for products such as pumps.

Under the changes, your insurer will be able to reallocate your existing coverage into one of four tiers:  Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic. Each of these tiers will have minimum coverage requirements.

Other changes coming into effect on April 1 include discounts for young people (18 to 29), the ability to increase excesses for lower premiums, and the exclusion of natural therapies from extras.

If you are an existing policy-holder, you will have served waiting periods for pre-existing conditions that are covered under your current insurance. Check with your insurer that they will recognise these completed waiting periods under the new tier system.

If you have a complaint about your insurer, take it up with them in the first instance.  If it is not resolved, you can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman to seek their assistance.

To contact the Ombudsman, visit http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/How-we-can-help/private-health-insurance  and follow the links to Make a Complaint.