Comparing Private Health Insurance – PrivateHealth.gov.au vs comparison websites

Compare it Versus > Health > Australia > Private Health Insurance > Difference between privatehealth.gov.au and comparison websites including iSelect, Choosi, Compare the Market and Canstar
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Private Health Insurance Renewal Time
It is the time of year when many individuals and families look to lock in their yearly private health insurance covers before further premiums increase in April.

The prices of private health insurance seem to be on a never ending upwards spiral to keep pace with rising healthcare costs.

There are many factors to consider when getting health insurance and to most people, the different levels of cover are confusing and difficult to understand.

The current health situation of your and family and yourself, Australian Government Rebates, hospital vs excess covers, combined health covers, excess, gaps, procedures covered and limits involved are just some of the factors to consider.

The options seem endless and a way of comparing multiple packages can be very useful.

Comparison websites
Recently, there has been a steady rise in the number of heavily advertised free health insurance comparison websites offering a way to help this process and compare what is available on the health insurance market.

iSelect, Compare the Market, Canstar, YouCompare, Choosi are just some of this group.

Over the last few years, thousands of Australians have accessed these health insurance comparison websites to get a quote. But are the recommendations you receive there biased or not?

Here we will assess some of the suggested concerns that have arisen regarding these comparison websites.

While handy and easy to use, the reality is that the companies behind these websites earn money through commission fees from sales of the insurance packages that can at times be very high. So a significant part of your premium may actually be going to the comparison website that you received the recommendation from.

The comparison websites do not compare the whole market and have been accused of being misleading when it comes to how much of the market they compare. The website are privately owned and at times are in the ownership of insurance companies themselves. Having said this, as far as I am aware, there have been no local proven cases of obvious tampering with biased results.

PrivateHealth.gov.au
To attempt to make the process somewhat easier for Aussies, the Government has created what it claims to be an independent resource for consumers.

PrivateHealth.gov.au is a new website made available and run by the Australian Government that explains how private health insurance works, and who and what is covered. It is a free service that allows you to compare selected features for virtually all private health insurance products offered in Australia.

You can do an online search of a database of all policies to help you review your current policy or choose a new one. PrivateHealth.gov.au also provides the Standard Information Statements from every registered private health fund, which allows you to compare health insurance policies for your current situation.

Let’s compare some basic differences between PrivateHealth.gov.au and comparison website in the following table:

PrivateHealth.gov.au	vs	Majority of other health insurance comparison websites
	Free
(virtually all but make sure to do your own research)	Covers the whole private insurance market?
	Can search based on your individual circumstances?
Government owned	Ownership	Privately owned
	Directly paid by commissions from sales of insurance products?

How did you choose?

How did you select your private health cover? Did you speak to your doctor or get advice from family member?

Tell us what you found helpful in picking health insurance cover for your family. Do you recommend PrivateHealth.gov.au or the comparison websites?