Members Health has released research showing its funds have again recorded very high levels of customer satisfaction.
Members Health represents the 23 private health insurers which are not-for-profit and member-owned. Its funds provide private health insurance to over 1.7 million Australians.
“The independent research conducted by Discovery Research collected more than 21,000 responses from customers of participating Members Health funds and found average satisfaction coming in at 96%, an outstanding achievement,” said the managing partner of Discovery Research, David Williams.
The high rating for customer satisfaction has remained at around the same level since 2006.
A similar survey commissioned by Private Healthcare Australia in 2016 found 84 per cent of the 2,384 respondents were somewhat to very satisfied with their private health insurance.
Members Health CEO Matthew Koce described the results as a major achievement.
“A 96% satisfaction rate is very impressive and once again demonstrates the enormous commitment that the Members Health funds have towards serving the needs and expectations of their policy holders,” he said.
“While the for-profit funds are required to generate a financial return for shareholders, Members Health funds do not. Therefore the Members Health funds are able to return around 90 cents in every premium dollar back to members in benefits. In contrast, the industry average for health insurers is around 85 cents in the dollar and for General insurers it is just 65 cents.
“With the debate about affordability and value for money in private health insurance an ongoing point of discussion, the fact that there are a diverse range of funds operating solely in the interests of consumers is of growing significance.
“Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the superior value and service offered by the smaller not-for-profit, member owned and community based health insurers and are voting with their feet. As a group the Members Health funds are now averaging policyholder growth of around four times that of the rest of the industry.
“With more than 21,000 customers surveyed the results paint a comprehensive and accurate picture of the strong value and performance of participating Members Health funds.”
“All Members Health funds share one or more of the following traits, being not-for-profit, member owned and community based. They exist only to serve the needs of consumers, not to deliver a financial dividend to shareholders or overseas investors. Members Health funds are entirely consumer centric and therefore have enormous integrity,” added Matthew Koce.