Home |  site-map |  indonesia |  indonesian-single-source-articles |  asteroid-user-registration |

Roy Morgan OZ Panel Login  |  Mail Diary Panel Login |   careers |  contact-us |

 Search:  Entire Site Polls Press Releases 

Close to 400,000 singles and 1.2m couples and families will be affected by changes to the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) prompting them to consider their decision to stay or drop their cover.

Approximately 400,000 single Australians with personal incomes of between $50,000 to $100,000 and 1.2 million couples or families with household incomes of between $100,000 to $150,000 (for the 12 months to March 2008) with private health insurance coverage are now facing potential changes to the Medicare Levy Surcharge which could see them making a choice between retaining cover or leaving private health insurance.

Table 1: Private Health Insurance Customers (‘000) affected by Medicare Levy Surcharge  — Coverage

(Period: 12 months to March, 2008; Base: Australians aged 25+ with Private Health Insurance (Hospital Cover); n= 18,094)

Changes to the Medicare Levy Surcharge (which sees the surcharge threshold increasing to $100,000 from $50,000 for singles and from $100,000 to $150,000 for couples) could result in a disincentive to continue to hold cover, or delay taking up cover by adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude in the event premiums increase.

Table 2: Percentage of Customers who are affected by Medicare Levy Surcharge - Private Health Insurers (Coverage)

(Period: 12 months to March, 2008; Base: Australians aged 25+ with Private Health Insurance (Hospital Cover); n=17,700)

	Medibank Private	MBF	BUPA
%	25.3%	16.5%	8.6%

Notes:  BUPA operates as Mutual Community in South Australia and the Northern Territory and HBA in all other states

Norman Morris, Global Finance Industry Director at Roy Morgan Research, says:

“These changes mean that families will form the bulk of those currently covered who may consider leaving private health insurance. The majority of those who will be making the decision are expected to come from the younger age bracket of less than 65 years old.”

About Roy Morgan Research:

Roy Morgan Research is the largest independent Australian research company, with offices in each state of Australia, as well as in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has more than 60 years’ experiences in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. In Australia, Roy Morgan Research is considered to be the authoritative source of information on financial behaviour, readership, voting intentions and consumer confidence. Roy Morgan Research is a specialist in recontact customised surveys which provide invaluable and effective qualitative and quantitative information regarding customers and target markets.

Contacts:

For comments or further detail, please contact:

Norman Morris, Global Finance Industry Director

Email: Norman.Morris@RoyMorgan.com

Telephone: +61 (03) 9224 5172

Mobile: 0402 014 474

© 2007 Roy Morgan Research. All Rights Reserved
privacy-statement