The History of HBF

HBF was established during the Second World War in a time of shortages, rationing and increasing regulation to help ordinary Perth residents pay their hospital bills.

Launched in April, 1941, it was originally known as the Perth Metropolitan Hospitals Benefit Fund (MHBF) and only covered Perth hospitals.

It was built on the tradition of friendly societies and early hospital schemes and was initially administered by a provisional committee of management with backgrounds in WA's metropolitan hospitals.

The original constituent bodies of the fund, the Perth, Fremantle and Children's Hospitals, appointed an equal number of representatives to the committee with an independent chairman.

Since its inception, the Fund has grown from strength to strength, quickly becoming the leading provider of health insurance in WA.

By the end of June 1944, after only its third year of operation, MHBF's membership had exceeded 50,000 members.

With the fund prospering, it was decided that health cover should be extended for treatment in all WA hospitals.

In October 1945, the word 'Metropolitan' was removed from the Fund's name to emphasise that coverage included all Western Australian hospitals.

By 1954 HBF had more than 250,000 members and 103 staff.

During the 1960s and early 1970s it took over several smaller funds and its membership grew to almost 650,000 by the mid 1970s, which was about 65% of the Western Australian population.

In 1975 we diversified into non-hospital, ancillary health services and began covering such services as physiotherapy and podiatry.

With the introduction of the Federal Government's Medibank in 1975, the health insurance industry changed significantly, which resulted in the membership dropping to more than 430,000 by 1977.

HBF had to find new ways to offer its members the highest quality service that was also competitive in an ever-changing market and political climate.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s it launched its first comprehensive advertising campaign, which saw member numbers increase greatly in 1982.

However, the introduction of Medicare in 1983 resulted in membership numbers dropping by 11.6 per cent within a year.

Partly in response to this, HBF diversified into general insurance in 1983 and began offering home, building and car insurance.

In 1986 HBF began offering travel insurance, which proved very popular with members.

In the early 1980s HBF's branches grew from five to ten, ranging from Albany, Perth and Bunbury to Geraldton and Karratha and formed an important point of contact for members.

In 1997 HBF took over administration of the St John Ambulance Fund, incorporating St John Ambulance cover into its portfolio of products and absorbing the St John membership into the HBF membership.

In 1999 the Federal Government introduced the 30% rebate then Lifetime Health Cover in 2000, which saw health insurance membership numbers swell to a record 900,000.

However, record membership numbers also coincided with record claims.

In recent times external factors, such as rising costs, new technology and the aging population, have placed great pressure on the health insurance industry.

With forecasts predicting a continuing increase in claims in the future, HBF had to examine alternative sources of income.

Having developed a successful general insurance business, HBF decided to diversify more into financial services to give the organisation a broader base for the future and help keep premiums to a minimum.

In March 2000, the Hospital Benefit Fund of Western Australia was renamed HBF to highlight that the fund now offered a diverse range of products beyond health insurance.

In 2003 HBF launched financial services and in 2006 launched life insurance and home loans.

HBF recently extended the range of life insurance options to include trauma insurance, income replacement insurance and needlestick cover.

Today the organisation has about 800 employees and contractors and 20 branches around WA, including head office in Murray Street, Perth.