Health Insurance Premium Increase Annual Report 2026

By Trudie McConnochie Reviewed and updated 30 September 2026

In February 2026 the Australian government approved an average health insurance premium increase of 4.41% effective 1 April – the highest increase in 9 years. But that number only tells part of the story, with many Australian policyholders hit with much higher increases. In this report, healthslips.com.au has used its comprehensive industry data and crunched the numbers to show who was worst affected by the increases, broken down by Hospital Cover tier, family status, state and territory.

Increase by family status

4.41% Average

Single

Couple

Single Parent

Family

4.25%

4.14%

4.24%

4.85%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

Households with children experienced higher premium increases than households without. Family policies rose much higher than Single and Couple policies, putting the squeeze on Australian households in the current cost-of-living crisis.

Increase by tier

4.41% Average

Basic and Basic Plus

Bronze and Bronze Plus

Silver and Silver Plus

Gold

2.79%

3.98%

4.2%

8.02%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

Those on the highest level of cover faced the largest premium increases, with Gold policies increasing an average of 8.02%.

Average premium increase

3.03%

2024

3.73%

2025

4.41%

2026

About this report

This report was compiled by health insurance information and comparison site healthslips.com.au, using Australian government data comparing premiums of Hospital Cover policies on 1 April 2025 to 1 April 2026, excluding closed policies. Please direct questions about this report or requests for media comment to: sophie.bartho@healthslips.com.au.

Basic and Basic Plus

4.41% Average

NSW/ACT

QLD

VIC

TAS

3.49%

3.22%

2.91%

2.38%

3.15%

2.91%

1.96%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

At the lowest level of Hospital cover (Basic and Basic Plus), policyholders in the NT and Western Australia had the lowest premium increases, while New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia all had the largest increases in Basic and Basic Plus policies.

Bronze and Bronze Plus

4.41% Average

NSW/ACT

QLD

VIC

TAS

4.9%

4.31%

3.59%

3.77%

4.2%

3.6%

3.43%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

Australians holding Bronze or Bronze Plus policies had increases well over 4% in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia.

Silver and Silver Plus

4.41% Average

NSW/ACT

QLD

VIC

TAS

4.86%

4.67%

4.22%

3.93%

4.32%

4.01%

3.34%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

People with Silver or Silver Plus policies – including those that cover joint replacements – are paying more in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

Gold policies

4.41% Average

NSW/ACT

QLD

VIC

TAS

8.27%

8.2%

8.14%

7.88%

7.87%

7.48%

6.95%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

Gold policyholders in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and Victoria are all paying higher average premiums than other states and territories. All Gold policy holders are now paying well above the 4.41% average increase.

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Trudie McConnochie

Writer and Researcher

Knowledge is power – that’s the guiding principle behind everything Trudie writes, and it’s a philosophy she brings to her work at healthslips.com.au. By breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand blogs and stories, she aims to empower Australians to make the best choices and an informed decision around private health insurance.

Trudie understands firsthand some of the complexity of private health insurance having moved to Australia from New Zealand and having to navigate a vastly different public healthcare system and health insurance structure.

Trudie holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies (journalism major) from the Auckland University of Technology.

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