Around Australia, the stated average increase in health insurance premiums is around 3.99%.

But many Australians are seeing increases much higher than the average announced by the government.

A change to the government’s private health insurance rebate is partly to blame for the discrepancies.

CEO of Private Healthcare Australia, Dr Rachel David, joins Ross Greenwood.

“Some people do get a shock when they realise their increase is different from what the Minister announces.

“The number that’s announced by the government is an average so some people will pay a lot less and some people will pay more.

“The other thing people need to realise is that the government rebate for low and middle-income earners has been frozen for budget reasons. So that means that what looks like a premium increase… is actually a reduction in the government rebate.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview

Dr David suggests consumers visit privatehealth.gov.au to find out more about their private health insurance premiums.