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Is There a Gender Divide When It Comes to Health Insurance Preferences?
Health insurance should be tailored to an individual’s needs.
But does gender play a role in the cover we choose?
There’s both common ground and unique priorities
The healthcare needs of men and women can be quite different. That’s why in iSelect’s Health Pulse 2024, we took a look into the differences between the genders when it comes to healthcare and health insurance preferences.1iSelect commissioned YouGov Galaxy Pty Ltd to conduct a national online survey between 15 and 21 July 2024. The sample is n=1,532 Australians aged 18 years and older who have private health insurance and are the main or joint decision maker for their cover. The survey results were weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
When it comes to extras, the iSelect Health Pulse reveals that men and women continue to have different priorities.
Almost a quarter of all women wanted remedial massage in their extras cover. Women were also twice as likely to prioritise it than men.
Loyalty is a virtue both genders have in spades
According to the Health Pulse, both men and women have a tendency to stick with their providers – or at least, they haven’t gotten round to switching.
But change may still be in the air
Despite this trend of loyalty, some Australian men and women are saying goodbye to their current health insurance and switching. This could be because of changes in their living and family situations, along with their health priorities. Even rethinking the household budget could be enough to prompt a switch.
When it comes to hospital only cover, men are almost twice as likely to switch their policy than women.
What makes Australians choose to switch or stay?
Do savings differ by gender too?
While 22% of Aussies surveyed weren’t confident they’d find savings if they switched their health insurance, the iSelect Health Pulse found that this worry may be unfounded. Both the majorities of surveyed men and women who switched health insurance in the last 12 months reported savings. What those savings were can differ though.
On average, men save over $500 more than women when they switch their health insurance.
Helpful tip
Despite health insurance premiums being community rated (that means gender doesn’t come into the equation), women may be saving less when they switch due to the policies they choose. For instance, to get hospital cover for pregnancy and obstetrics, you’ll likely need to go with an option from the gold tier. This means more coverage across the board but usually a higher premium as a result.
However, playing around with factors like excesses and co-payments could help bring that premium down.
There can be a pretty big incentive to switch health insurance, no matter your gender
Putting gender aside, switching health insurance could be a way for Australians to claw back some cash in a cost-of-living crisis. If it’s been a while since you last checked, your health insurance may not be fitting quite as well as it once did. Your health priorities may have changed, like wanting certain extras or greater hospital cover. Switching could mean that you save, as well as get better value out of your health insurance.
Gender could even affect how likely you’ll use a comparison service
Our survey found that policy types and gender had an effect on estimated average savings from switching. Additionally, how Australians looked to switch also had an impact.
That gender divide, though, reared its head again when it came to who chose to use a comparison service.
Putting those savings to work
Thanks to switching their health insurance, a fair few of our surveyed Australians had some savings hitting their bank accounts. So what did they intend to do with the extra cash?
Even here there were some gender differences. For instance, men were more than twice as likely than women to want to spend those savings on dining out, food delivery and entertainment.
Health insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all
Gender can play a role when it comes to the extras you’re after, to the savings you could make. However, we each have our own needs and wants from health cover too. What matters at the end of the day is that you’re getting value from your health insurance. Otherwise, it could be time to switch.
iSelect Health Pulse 2024 – Full Report2iSelect commissioned YouGov Galaxy Pty Ltd to conduct a national online survey between 15 and 21 July 2024. The sample is n=1,532 Australians aged 18 years and older who have private health insurance and are the main or joint decision maker for their cover. The survey results were weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
Discover more insights from iSelect’s Health Pulse 2024
iSelect Health Pulse 2024
Is loyalty a virtue when it comes to health insurance? We surveyed 1,500 Australians to learn how long they’ve stayed with their current health insurer or policy, and the kinds of savings they could expect if they switched.
Generational Divide
Did you know you’re more likely to see psychology cover on a Millennial’s extras policy than on a Baby Boomer’s? Discover what each generation prioritises in their health insurance and more.
iSelect does not compare all health insurance providers or policies in the market. The availability of policies will change from time to time. Not all policies available from its providers are compared by iSelect and due to commercial arrangements, your stated needs and circumstances, not all policies compared by iSelect are available to all customers. Some policies and special offers are available only from iSelect’s contact centre or website. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.
iSelect commissioned YouGov Galaxy Pty Ltd to conduct a national online survey between 15 and 21 July 2024. The sample is n=1,532 Australians aged 18 years and older who have private health insurance and are the main or joint decision maker for their cover. The survey results were weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
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- 1.iSelect commissioned YouGov Galaxy Pty Ltd to conduct a national online survey between 15 and 21 July 2024. The sample is n=1,532 Australians aged 18 years and older who have private health insurance and are the main or joint decision maker for their cover. The survey results were weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.
- 2.iSelect commissioned YouGov Galaxy Pty Ltd to conduct a national online survey between 15 and 21 July 2024. The sample is n=1,532 Australians aged 18 years and older who have private health insurance and are the main or joint decision maker for their cover. The survey results were weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest ABS population estimates.