ON THE RISE

Private health insurance hike another blow for budgets

Millions of Australians’ budgets will take another hit with the biggest rise in health insurance costs in years, but most are expected to still hang onto their policies.

An average premium increase of 4.41 per cent was approved by Health Minister Mark Butler on Tuesday, which experts say could trigger many policyholders to look at downgrading their cover to save money.

Read the article