APRA releases quarterly private health insurance statistics for March 2020
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its quarterly private health insurance statistical publications for the March 2020 quarter.
The publications provide industry aggregate summaries of key financial and membership statistics for the private health insurance industry.
The sharp COVID-19 led decline in equity markets drove significant investment losses in the March quarter 2020, resulting in negative profits this quarter and a consequent fall in industry profitability in the year ending March 2020.
Insurance margins improved slightly in the March quarter 2020 with fund benefits falling at a faster rate than premiums. This quarterly outcome differs to the recent trends in insurance margins which declined over the 12 months to March 2020 with growth in fund benefits (claims) exceeding growth in premium revenue.
Key performance statistics for the industry in the quarter:
| December2019 | March 2020 | Change (quarterly) |
|---|---|---|---|
Premium revenue | $6.30 billion | $6.20 billion | -1.59% |
Fund benefits (claims) | $5.46 billion | $5.33 billion | -2.42% |
Net investment income | $82.36 million | -$288.78 million | -450.65% |
Net profit after tax | $371.01 million | -$53.93 million | -114.54% |
Key performance statistics for the industry in the year ended:
| March2019 | March 2020 | Change (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
Premium revenue | $24.40 billion | $25.00 billion | +2.45% |
Fund benefits (claims) | $20.75 billion | $21.51 billion | +3.68 % |
Net investment income | $0.42 billion | $0.09 billion | -77.22% |
Net profit after tax | $1.36 billion | $0.97 billion | -28.44% |
Total assets | $14.95 billion | $15.36 billion | +2.71% |
Key ratios for the industry:
| Year ending March2019 | Year ending March 2020 | Change (annual) | Change (quarterly1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gross margin | 14.01% | 13.00% | -1.01 percentage points | +0.72 percentage points |
Net margin | 5.00% | 3.96% | -1.04 percentage points | +0.11 percentage points |
1 Quarterly changes capture changes in insurance margins between the March quarter 2020 and the December quarter 2019.
Copies of the March 2020 quarterly publications are available on APRA’s website at: Quarterly private health insurance statistics.
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Contact APRA Media Unit, on +61 2 9210 3636
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For more information contact APRA on 1300 558 849.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the financial services industry. It oversees banks, mutuals, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, private health insurers, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry. APRA currently supervises institutions holding around $9 trillion in assets for Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.