HBF, Australia’s fifth-largest private health insurer, has released its 2023 annual report with a 7.5 per cent increase in group revenue to $1.995 billion.
The Perth-based company said that more than one in five of its members now reside outside of WA, with Queensland entrenched as HBF’s second-largest market after the recent acquisition of Queensland Country Health Fund.
The company said that its investment in technology and its& wellness division impacted earnings. It reported a $20 million loss after tax.
CEO Dr Lachlan Henderson said, “With cost-of-living front of mind, HBF has been acutely aware of the importance of providing value in our health insurance products and services to more than 1.1 million HBF members in FY23 while ensuring we position the organisation for the future.
“This has included ongoing investment in our technology transformation program - set to complete in FY24 - further growth in our insurance portfolio nationwide, and expanding our dental, physiotherapy and health services.
“For example, in FY23 we introduced a no-gap check-up and clean for members at our growing number of HBF Dental centres, which is the fastest-growing dental group in WA and soon to have 100 dentists less than three years after its launch.
“We also had 300,000 consultations at our 26 Life Ready physiotherapy clinics in the year and plans are underway to rebrand some of these clinics to HBF Physio and open a new clinic in Perth’s southern suburbs in FY24.
“In addition, we launched new health programs to help keep our members healthy, including being the first health fund in Australia to fully cover the internationally-recognised Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D) program for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis."
Dr Henderson said, “We also continued to look after our members with the return of $110 million in COVID-19 savings, $1.7 billion paid as claims, and providing industry-leading service standards.
“With HBF’s five-year strategy ending in FY24, this year we’ll be spending time to review our progress and develop a new plan that leads HBF into the future, guided by our continuing commitment to provide value for HBF members.”
The company announced the appointment of Sami Yalavac to its board of directors. Mr Yalavac was chief information officer at Bupa Asia Pacific for seven years and is highly experienced across digital operations and transformation, business intelligence, data and cyber security.
HBF Board chair Diane Smith-Gander AO said, “We’re delighted to welcome Sami to the HBF Board. He brings extensive experience with a people-centric approach to digital innovation as well as an impressive track record in leading cyber security programs - both significant priorities for HBF.”