Australians will pay an estimated $821 million extra per year for their private health insurance from today, 1 April, but it’s no April Fool’s Day joke. The increased cost is a result of a 5.56 per cent increase announced recently by the Federal Government.

The increased cost is equal to more than five million baskets of groceries, or eight million tanks of petrol. It would also be enough to buy groceries for 100,000 families for a year.

According to Paul Cross, iSelect’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs, private health insurance is one rising cost that Australians can do something about.

“Australians need to understand what they actually need from their private health insurance, and shop around for a policy that best suits their needs and budget. By doing this, it can be possible to actually offset this increase in cost.

“There is hundreds of dollars difference between similar policies. In fact, in some parts of Australia the difference in the cost of top hospital cover for a family could be more than $900 over 12 months.

Whilst the average increase is estimated to be $190 per family annually, in reality some Australians will pay much more than this.

Mr Cross said 5.56 per cent is only the average increase consumers can expect. In reality, some will end up paying more, in some cases hundreds of dollars.