Single parents face higher health insurance premium increases than other families, analysis shows

Pricing single parents – 80% of whom are mothers – out of health insurance indirectly discriminates on the basis of gender, says Choice expert Mark Blades. Composite: AAP

Health insurers are disadvantaging single parents already struggling with rising costs of living by charging them higher premiums to add children as dependents than other families.

A Choice analysis published on Thursday revealed single parents often face increases of up to 70% when switching to a family policy to add children as dependants, when most two-parent families don’t face any increase in premium.