Premium Increase and Benefit Changes 2023
We’re proud to support over 110,000 members on their health journey. We're privileged that you have chosen Westfund to look after your health - thank you. As your health fund, we’re focused on providing quality health cover and genuine care to our members every day.
To keep our commitment to you, we review benefits annually to ensure we continue to provide a range of support and services to help protect our members' health and wellbeing. We understand the challenge our members face when it comes to accessing healthcare services. We’ve listened to member feedback and have made a number of improvements to your cover. These improvements are outlined in detail on our Benefit Changes page.
We’ve answered some of the most commonly asked questions about the changes to the cost of your premiums. We want you to be happy with your cover and to understand any changes and how they apply to you.
If you want to discuss your cover with us, get in touch and we'll be happy to help.
Common questions
I rarely claim but my premium is increasing. Why?
All private health insurers in Australia operate under the ‘Community Rating’ system – it’s a government requirement.
Community Rating means all consumers are entitled to buy the same product, at the same price and are guaranteed the right to renew their policy. There are some exceptions to this, for example Lifetime Health Cover and Age-Based Discounts.
A health fund cannot refuse to insure you or refuse to sell you any policy you want to buy on the basis of your health or how likely you are to claim.
Basically, regardless of how you use (or don’t use) your cover, we don’t charge you differently based on your health status or age.
When does the premium change take effect?
Premium changes are effective as of 1 April 2023. Payments made on or after this date will be calculated at the new rate.
When will I know my new premium?
We notified members in February of their new premium from 1 April 2023 by direct correspondence. How you receive this information depends on your correspondence preference, either by email or via post.
What is rate protection? How far ahead can I pre-pay?
Our members can lock in their current rate by paying their premiums up to 18 months in advance.
If you want to do this, you just need to make a payment before 31 March 2023.
Is my direct debit/payroll payment automatically adjusted?
Yes – we’ll take care of your payroll or direct debit payments for you. Just a reminder, if you pay via BPAY, you'll need to adjust your payment from 1 April 2023 to ensure your policy remains up to date.
I can’t afford this increase. What are my options?
We don’t want members who are experiencing financial distress right now to be burdened with additional concerns about premium payments.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here to discuss any possible impacts of this premium increase and any options available, including:
- Changing how often you make your payments. By making payments more often, each payment can be more manageable.
- Choosing a cover with an excess. Our excess options on selected covers include Nil, 250, 500 and 750.
- Choosing a Hospital only cover
- Choosing an Extras only cover
Benefit Changes 2023
There were changes to certain benefits from 1 January 2023. For an outline of these changes, please follow the button below.