Your new premium will apply to your next payment from 1 October 2020 and will be communicated to you and available for you to view online via My Medibank, from late August/early September. Don't forget that you can choose how often you pay your premium - fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, every six months, or every year. To change your premium payment frequency please log in to My Medibank .

We can't charge you less for not using your cover or charge you more for using it. Private health insurance in Australia must meet the government's community rating requirements. This means everyone has access to the same insurance products at the same base price, regardless of their health or claiming behaviour.

The main reason for premium change is to keep pace with the rising cost of healthcare and the increasing need for healthcare. We're living longer, chronic conditions are on the rise and we enjoy some of the best healthcare in the world. Your specific premium change depends on several factors, such as the state you live in, the type of cover you're on, and the general claiming pattern of members.

We’ve been working hard to ensure our members can get better value from their membership. Depending on what’s included in your policy, (check your cover summary to find out more) you may be able to:

• access to Medibank’s 24/7 Nurse and Mental Health lines^*.
• get 100% back on two dental check-ups a year at a Members’ Choice Advantage dentist.~
• get 100% back on optical items like frames, prescription glasses, contacts and more at recognised providers, up to your annual limits. (some lens coatings are excluded).
• at Specsavers, get two pairs of prescription designer glasses, including standard single-vision lenses, with no gap. ^{^}
• get member discounts on Pet, Travel and Life Insurance.

And with our Live Better rewards program, we’re rewarding you for looking after your health.  You can:

• access free, active and social activities across the country (such as parkrun and outdoor fitness classes) or exercise from home with a range of videos from our Live Better at Home library
• access expert health information, recipe inspiration, exercise tips and online courses to support your health
• if you are an eligible Medibank member, earn Live Better reward points and use them towards a gift card, savings of $200 on your health cover or get more on your extras like a remedial massage or physio service - simply by taking a broad range of healthy actions.

* Available to all members on eligible hospital cover

~ Two month waiting period applies. Limited to two dental check-ups on all extras annually. Maximum two bitewing x-rays per check-up, where clinically needed. Not available in all areas.

^ Waiting periods apply. If your full annual optical limit (or more than $225 remaining of your limit) is not available at time of purchase, out of pockets may apply. Both pairs must be of the same prescription. Other lens options available at an extra cost.

We're tackling increasing healthcare costs in a number of ways:

• Working closely with the government on policy reform to reduce costs in heath cover.
• Investing in primary care programs for eligible people with chronic conditions to help them stay out of hospital.
• Partnering with the healthcare sector to support better health outcomes for members.
• Launching the Live Better rewards program to help Australians get healthy and stay healthy.

No, the main reasons premiums are increasing are the cost of healthcare and increases in the frequency of Australians seeking treatment. Medibank’s premiums need to keep pace with these rising costs.

No, we’ve paid dividends for many years. The difference is that instead having of one shareholder, the Australian Government, we now have many shareholders.

The Government reforms introduced in April this year have been designed to make the private health system simpler, easier to understand and more affordable for all Australians.

Medibank made the decision to adopt all the Government’s optional reforms because it was the right thing to do.

This includes giving customers the option to increase their excess to $750 to reduce their premium. It also means introducing a discount of up to 10% for young adults.

The cost of delivering healthcare costs in Australia continues to rise, largely driven by more frequent and more expensive hospital admissions and a population that is getting older.

Your Medibank extras cover is there to help with your day-to-day health and could even prevent smaller issues from becoming bigger ones. But you do need to know what’s included under your cover to make the most of it. You can check this through the My Medibank mobile app or by logging into My Medibank.

It’s also important to make sure you’re on the right type of cover for where you’re at in life; and that’s why we’re encouraging our members to take another look at their cover. Give us a call on 132 331 and we’ll take you through a cover review.