The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its quarterly private health insurance publications for the December 2019 quarter.
The publications provide industry aggregate summaries of key financial and membership statistics for the private health insurance industry.
The data shows a continued deterioration in insurance performance with net margins declining from 5.2 per cent to 3.9 per cent in the year ending December 2019. Despite the deterioration in insurance performance, profitability improved due to an increase in net investment income, largely driven by stronger returns in equities in the year ending December 2019.
The industry continues to face risks associated with affordability and the associated value proposition of private health insurance products. This has resulted in an ongoing decline in membership, particularly in the younger age groups.
Key performance statistics for the industry in the year ended:
December 2018 | December 2019 | Change | |
Premium revenue | $24.23 billion | $24.84 billion | +2.51% |
Fund benefits | $20.57 billion | $21.38 billion | +3.99 % |
Net investment income | $0.19 billion | $0.64 billion | +238.4% |
Net profit after tax | $1.19 billion | $1.44 billion | +21.16% |
Total assets | $13.72 billion | $14.64 billion | +6.70% |
Key ratios for the industry in the year ended:
December 2018 | December 2019 | Change | |
Gross margin | 14.18% | 12.96% | -1.22 pp |
Net margin | 5.18% | 3.86% | -1.32 pp |
Copies of the December 2019 quarterly publications are available on APRA’s website at Quarterly private health insurance statistics.
