Family saves $2000 a year on private health insurance

When Michael decided to look into whether switching health insurance providers would help save his young family some cash, he had no idea just how much he’d end up saving.
The father of two from New South Wales was hoping a more affordable option would help he and his wife make ends meet with the cost of living crisis putting pressure on their teacher salary budget.
Having already saved money by switching car insurance providers, Michael approached comparison service iSelect to see whether a cheaper private health insurance plan was out there.
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They found another provider that slashed a huge amount off the cost of what Michael and his wife were paying for their family’s cover.
“I was saving $97.25 a fortnight and so it’s like $2334 a year for the same cover, bar things that older people require… stuff I didn’t need that I was told that I needed to have because as I get older they’ll start cancelling it out,” he tells 9honey Money.
Michael’s not the only one saving by switching private health insurance providers. iSelect’s Health Pulse Survey shows 75 per cent of Aussies who switched saved an average of $1151 a year.
The Health Pulse research also found Aussies on average are staying with the same private health insurance provider for almost seven years, while a quarter have had their current policy for more than a decade.
This means we can end up paying what’s known as a loyalty tax, where by staying with the same provider and policy we’re likely paying more than new customers.
Despite the potential for saving money, 17 per cent of people surveyed said comparing providers and policy would require too much effort and a further eight per cent thought it would take too much time.
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Whether you try the comparison website option, doing your own research online or ringing around providers, saving just a little bit in any way really does help make ends meet.
For Michael, saving $2000 a year doesn’t mean he’s got cash to splash on an expensive purchase, but in a situation relatable to most Aussies right now it’s going to ease pressure on the family budget.
“It’s more of a like surviving situation at the moment, where I didn’t want to cut back on all the things that we will need as a family but at the same time, if we can cut back on how much it costs us to access those things and services, then it was only a matter of time before we really delved into it,” he says.
“With my wife being a casual employee and not having consistent work, we sort of live paycheck to paycheck with my wages so that any extra savings be it insurances or shopping need to happen.”
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In addition to looking into whether he could find cheaper car and private health insurance, Michael’s also trying to be even more organised than usual with finances and look for other savings.
This includes stocking up on potting mix for the vegie garden when it’s 70 per cent off, slowly buying Christmas and New Year essentials as they go on sale and taking a fine-toothed comb to bigger expenses.
“We did all our health insurances, we did our car and house and contents insurance and we’re looking at simple things like even the financing for our solar panels, our mortgage and like we’re slowly chipping away doing our research now and finding people that are in the know to guide us as well because we’re both primary school teachers, we’re not financial gurus, we can go as far as six times nine, but everything else is a complexity,” he says.
After saving so much on his car and private health insurance, Michael is encouraging Aussies to look into whether there is a cheaper provider and policy out there for them.
“A couple of months later seeing how easy the whole process was I recommend anyone even like having the slightest thought to do it to go ahead with it,” he says.
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