ATTITUDES OF WOMEN TOWARDS HEALTH INSURANCE

1. helloimvenus.com/#venuslab
The attitudes of women towards
health insurance

2. ABOUT THE SURVEY 1
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY 4
RESPONSIBILITY FOR PURCHASE RESEARCH 6
HOW WOMEN FEEL ABOUT THEIR INSURANCE FUND 8
SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF FEMALES 10
CONTENTS

3. 1
25–29 yrs
6%
30–34 yrs
18%
35–39 yrs
22%40–44 yrs
24%
45–49 yrs
14%
50–55 yrs
16%
Hello I’m Venus commissioned a survey of women to determine their perceptions
of Australian health insurers and the understanding that these organisations display
towards the needs of women.
The survey was conducted online, between the 1st and 3rd of April, using the
Pureprofile consumer research panel.
A total of 400 women between the ages of 25 and 55 years participated in the survey.
The largest representations were aged 35–39 years (22%) and 40–44 years (24%).
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THESURVEY
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4. 2
4%
In a relationship
91%
Married or engaged
5%
Living with partner
Note: No participants were located
in the Northern Territory.
ACT
2%
NSW
33%
VIC
27%
QLD
16%
SA
9%
WA
10%
TAS
3%
The majority of respondents were located on the east coast of Australia — 33% from
New South Wales, 27% from Victoria and 16% from Queensland.
In addition to these basic segmentation parameters, respondents were also asked
their marital status, if they had children living at home and which health insurer they
are with (results shown over page).
All of the 400 women surveyed have a child or children still living at home and a vast
majority are married or engaged (91%).
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5. 3
DefenceHealth4%
BupaAustralia
Other
26%
10%
HIFAustralia1%
GMHBA3%
AustralianUnity2%
AHMHealthInsurance4%
CBHS4%
MedibankPrivate21%
NIBHealthFunds10%
HCF16%
Bupa is the most dominant insurer, accounting
for 26% of health insurance nominations. However,
regional variations are noted for Queensland and
Western Australia, where Medibank Private (who
is considered the nation’s largest insurer) is by
far the dominant brand, accounting for 50% and
43% of health insurance nominations respectively.
Amongst the 40–44 year segment, Medibank
Private is the most dominant insurer, accounting
for 21%.
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6. 4
AGE
Overall 25-29
years
30-34
years
35-39
years
40-44
years
45-49
years
50-55
years
Australian Unity 2% 4% 3% 1% 2% 0% 5%
Medibank Private 21% 15% 28% 18% 21% 21% 19%
Bupa Australia 26% 31% 34% 21% 19% 29% 27%
NIB Health Funds 10% 8% 13% 8% 11% 13% 8%
HIF Australia 1% 0% 1% 2% 1% 0% 2%
AHM Health Insurance 4% 8% 7% 2% 2% 5% 3%
Other 36% 35% 14% 47% 43% 32% 35%
LOCATION (METRO & REGIONAL)
NSW
Metro
NSW
Regional
VIC
Metro
VIC
Regional
QLD
Metro
QLD
Regional
WA
Metro
WA
Regional
SA
Metro
SA
Regional ACT TAS
Metro
TAS
Regional
NT
Metro
NT
Regional
Australian Unity 3% 4% 1% 8% 2% 0% 0% 0% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Medibank Private 17% 14% 23% 17% 34% 24% 21% 22% 15% 10% 11% 40% 100% 100% 0%
Bupa Australia 27% 21% 32% 21% 12% 24% 15% 11% 38% 60% 22% 20% 0% 0% 0%
NIB Health Funds 17% 29% 2% 13% 7% 14% 6% 0% 4% 0% 11% 10% 0% 0% 0%
HIF Australia 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 9% 0% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
AHM Health Insurance 3% 4% 7% 4% 2% 5% 3% 0% 0% 10% 0% 10% 0% 0% 0%
Other 32% 29% 35% 38% 41% 33% 45% 67% 35% 20% 56% 20% 0% 0% 0%
Question: Who is your health insurance company?
Management summary
The current survey confirms the popular view that women are largely in charge
when it comes to making purchase decisions. 60% of women claim to solely
conduct research when in the market for health insurance. Only one-in-ten
women abdicate the responsibility to their partner.
Bupa has the largest share of market, and its share is highest amongst 25–29
and 30–34 year olds at 31% and 34% respectively. Medibank Private has the
second-highest share overall, with its highest share in the 40–44 year segment
amongst Queensland and Western Australian women.
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7. 5
Overall, women’s attitudes towards their health insurance company are united. 58% of women reported
having a positive disposition toward their fund.
However, the most-felt attitude strongly sits opposed to this overall sentiment. One-in-five women cited
their displeasure with the premiums, they feel funds lack value for money and are too expensive.
Sentiment from those who felt displeased with their fund varied from mild to outrage.
As part of the survey, women were asked to provide suggestions as to how their health insurance
company could better meet their needs; 93% had some advice for their insurer.
Amongst the wide distribution of responses from the group of women, the key themes related to value,
better customer services and communications, flexibility, tailored solutions and rewards. 34% cited that
lower premiums and having more control over annual increases as the number one thing their insurer
could do. In second place, 12% felt customer service could be faster, better, easier, more proactive.
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Management summary

8. 6
60%
Yourself
10%
Partner
31%
Both
Across all age segments, women nominated themselves as being solely-responsible
for doing the most research into health insurance providers.
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Responsibility
for purchase research

9. 7
AGE
Overall 25-29
years
30-34
years
35-39
years
40-44
years
45-49
years
50-55
years
Yourself 59% 65% 56% 62% 57% 57% 56%
Partner 10% 8% 8% 7% 15% 11% 10%
Both 31% 27% 35% 31% 28% 32% 34%
LOCATION (METRO & REGIONAL)
NSW
Metro
NSW
Regional
VIC
Metro
VIC
Regional
QLD
Metro
QLD
Regional
WA
Metro
WA
Regional
SA
Metro
SA
Regional ACT TAS
Metro
TAS
Regional
NT
Metro
NT
Regional
Yourself 63% 82% 46% 71% 56% 67% 45% 44% 62% 80% 56% 50% 0% 100% 0%
Partner 11% 4% 10% 0% 15% 14% 24% 11% 8% 0% 0% 10% 0% 0% 0%
Both 26% 14% 44% 29% 29% 19% 30% 44% 31% 20% 44% 40% 100% 0% 0%
Question: Who does the most research when making health insurance purchases?
Responsibility for purchase research
Interestingly, women in most regional areas are more likely than their metropolitan
counterparts to take on the lion’s-share of the research when it comes to selecting
an insurance company — with women in regional New South Wales being the most
likely to conduct the majority of the research (82%), closely followed by women in
South Australia (80%).
Amongst those who abdicate responsibility to their partner, one-in-six women
aged 45–49 years are most likely to leave the majority of research to their partner.
24% of women in metropolitan Western Australia nominated their partner for
conducting the most research.
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10. 8
58%
Positive
32%
Negative
10%
Neutral/mixed
Women’s attitudes are relatively united in their feelings toward health funds. 58% of women
reported having a positive disposition towards their health insurer; feelings of security,
happiness and being covered ranked in the top four responses.
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How women feel about
their insurance fund

11. 9
The number one united feeling amongst women was
that their fund was too expensive. One-in-five women
cited their displeasure with the rate of premiums and
the significant price-hikes in recent years.
Interestingly, one-in-ten women had ambivalent feelings
towards their health insurance fund, suggesting an
immediate opportunity for funds to influence positive
engagement with female members.
Value35
Covered53
Security66
Notsure34
Reliable39
Expensive254
Good35
Necessary52
Happy56
OK37n=400
How women feel about
their insurance fund
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12. 10
Better ways of claiming 3%
Tailor my insurance to me — choice 8%
Better websites— more information 2%
Reward loyalty and offer discounts 4%
Plenty of notice of rate changes 2%
More branches/more staff/longer hours 3%
Lower premiums 34%
Advise on extras balances 2%
Cover more services 6%
More providers 1%
Pay out more/bigger rebates 5%
Improvements in customer services 12%
Provide useful information—link to providers/tips 2%
NA/not sure/nothing 7%
Suggestion for how to most efficiently use cover 1%
Regular targeted communication 2%
Make understanding a policy easier 8%
Most women had a suggestion about how their health
insurance fund could improve, with 93% identifying
an improvement.
Amongst the wide distribution of responses from the
group of women, the key themes related to value,
better customer services and communications,
flexibility, tailored solutions and rewards.
Just over a third (34%) of women suggest that their
health insurer should offer lower premiums with more
realistic increases. This is not surprising given the
steady increase in private health insurance premiums
since 2010; an average 31.56% in total over 5 years.
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Suggested improvements
to meet the needs of females

13. 11
One-in-seven women felt the customer service of their
health insurance company could be better. Ideas for
improvement included:
Suggested improvements
to meet the needs of females
“Communicate better options based on historical
usage and stage of life”
“Check your usage and cover, and provide cheaper
options in an easy-to-understand fashion”
“Notify me when my extras entitlements
are available e.g. glasses”
“Provide bonuses or discounts in premiums
for loyalty”
Transparency was noted by 8% of women as being an area
where improvement could be made — for example providing
policies in simple terms, making it easier to understand what
is and isn’t covered.
Equally, 8% of women felt that insurers would benefit from
letting them select what was covered under their policy, and
how their extras balance is distributed.
“Providers should give a list of extras and let you
choose what you want covered”
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of Hello I’m Venus and Pureprofile.