The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, Mr John Powlay, has published
the second annual “State of the Health Funds Report”, providing information on the comparative performance and service delivery of
private health insurance funds, focussing on complaints.

Mr Powlay reported that there has been an overall decline in the number of complaints received by the Ombusdman’s office. However, the number of complaints requiring investigation has increased.

In his report, the Ombudsman expressed particular concerns about consumer’s rights to clear information, restrictions on cover for life threatening conditions and changes to portability and benefit limitation periods.

The report identifies the number of complaints lodged against each fund and provides case studies.