The major changes you need to know about starting from April 1
Starting today, Aussies can expect a number of changes on their toll and private health insurance bills.
Healthcare will cost more for consumers as private insurance rates increase by an average of 3.25 per cent. Rebates are also dropping between 0.1 and 0.5 per cent from last year’s rates, translating to a rise of $1 per fortnight in premiums.
Insurance holders are being urged to find out how the changes will affect their cover. “These changes are big, and no one really knows the true impact on the overall [health insurance] market until after April 1,” said Choice spokesman Jonathan Brown in March.
Laura Crowden, a spokeswoman from the insurance comparison service iSelect, told 9Finance that customers should have heard from their insurers about how their policy and prices are changing.
“The 3.25 per cent increase is an average only, so yours might be different,” she said.
Road tolls will also be more expensive for drivers in Sydney. Starting Monday, the Eastern Distributor will cost $7.61 for a car and $15.22 for a truck.
Drivers on the Cross City Tunnel will need to fork out $5.77, while those using the M2 could pay up to $7.52.
“That is a burden, so for some families in Western Sydney now up to 20 per cent of their weekly budget goes to transport costs,” NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told Yahoo7.
Will these new increases affect you? Tell us in the comments below.