Sunday, October 23, 2011

Private Health Insurance competition heats up

I am not sure whether this is really the case but from an individual's point of view, it seems that the private health insurance wars have started to heat up a little. Here are a few anecdotal points

  • Not too long ago, Medibank was offering a free movie ticket at my workplace to anyone who wants to get a quote from them about their private health insurance
  • This was closely followed by MBF / BUPA who set up a little van out the front of the car park and arranged for consultations with staff, offering Coles/iTunes vouchers of $20. 
  • Medibank sent a nice pamphlet recently to advertise their new mi Health medibank advice line
  • They then followed up with a survey sent to presumably all their members asking whether they read through the pamphlet and whether this made them more or less likely to stay with Medibank or see them as providing value added services. 
This is quite interesting as I had recently wondered whether private health insurance companies could do more for their members. I look at examples overseas where health insurance providers would even organise parties etc or exclusive screenings for their members. Things like that.

Maybe that is a future strategy someone is willing to look at? I know it would sway one particular 30 year old private health insurance holder.