This is an update to a similar article I wrote in 2016, and this shows in the seven years since, medical insurance premiums have mostly doubled and what has changed since then. Added to that is access to public health services is at an all-time low, with around 2/3 of people not being seen in required Ministry of Health time frames.

Don't take my word for it; you can check out Public Health services delivery response that is linked, though this hasn't been updated since before the 2023 election. Click time series view, and it will show you how well current public health delivery is achieving to expectations.

It's been ten years since insurers started adding breast reconstruction after cancer surgery to medical insurance. At the time, insurers had a hard time with the subject, but over the last ten years, all insurers, with the exception of some older employer plans, now have the benefit.

The article, which you can read here, only mentioned four of the 10 providers of medical insurance benefits in the New Zealand market at the time, which does the market a disservice as it does provide valuable benefits to policyholders in need with 8 out of 10 at the time having some response to breast reconstruction after surgery.

One of the things that is often said, reported in the news, and generally complained about are the increasing costs of medical insurance.

We've heard about Southern Cross policyholders up in arms because of the premium increases they have seen. To be fair, all providers' premiums increase; Southern Cross has the biggest pool of clients and the oldest pool of clients, so increases do hit hard in that particular group.

This article has been updated here, and this one has been maintained for historical reference.

Two medical insurers have changed or added to their products this month. NIB the insurer who took over Tower Medical last year and the largest medical insurer in the New Zealand market, Southern Cross.

So what have they done?

If you are familiar with Tower Medical they had Premier Health and Easy Health in their product range. NIB have added Basic, Mid, Ultimate and Ultimate Max policy options to their mix. Making it both more flexible in building the medical insurance products for you but also making it more complex to understand the nuances of the different policies, which is where we as advisers come in.