Health fund members are paying much more than the five percent increase in premiums advertised by the federal government, Liberal MP Alby Schultz has claimed.
Health minister Nicola Roxon released a statement on March 6 saying private health fund premiums were to rise by 4.99 percent.
But the member for Hume says constituents have contacted him to say they are paying much more than that.
"The 4.99 percent rise is an 'average' across all of the insurer’s products on offer,” he said.
"The more popular products have gone up by much more than the 'average'. Constituents have contacted me with rises in their premiums of 8 to 10 percent."
“One constituent got a double whammy. Not only did her premium rise by 8.1 percent but some items that she had previously claimed were no longer claimable."
The backbencher said that the woman - a pensioner who has had a double mastectomy - was paying for private health insurance because no rural public health facility offered the therapy she needed, which includes physiotherapy.
“With limited funds, she has to pay for private health insurance, so she... double-checks exactly what her cover entitles her to claim," Mr Schultz said.
“She is covered for up to $500 worth of prostheses and prosthetic appliances per year."
“A pair of prostheses costs $715 and because my constituent needs the pair, she claims $500 and pays the other $215 every second year."
He said she needed a special bra to wear the prostheses and a special swimsuit to undertake hydrotherapy to prevent muscle wastage and combat back pain.
“When purchased from a specialist retailer and described as a prosthetic appliance she has been able to claim 85 percent of the cost," Mr Schultz said.
"Every alternate year she buys specialised bras and swimsuits and claims them. But not this time."
The MP said the woman's story showed the government's health insurance premium headlines were nothing but "clever Labor spin".
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