HBF's 2026 Annual Report

HBF Chief Executive Officer Dr Lachlan Henderson said HBF had continued to deliver immediate value for members while building the services and capabilities needed to support their changing health needs.

“Affordability remains one of the most important considerations for our members, particularly as the cost of healthcare continues to increase. In FY26, we limited our average premium increase to 2.15% – the lowest among Australia’s five largest health funds for the second-year running – and paid a record $1.97 billion in hospital and extras claims,” Dr Henderson said.

“We also helped limit members’ out-of-pocket costs, with 91.6% of in-hospital medical services provided at no gap. More than 37,000 members used no-gap offers through HBF Dental and HBF Physio, up 26% on FY25, and more than 7,100 participated in our early intervention and chronic disease management programs.

“HBF’s net profit after tax of $128.2 million in FY26 was marginally down on FY25 and underpinned by growth in our investment income to $108.7 million. 

“As a not-for-profit health fund, our earnings remain within HBF and strengthen our capacity to pay claims, respond to members’ changing needs and improve the value they receive from their cover.

“FY26 was the first year of implementing HBF30, our strategy to grow sustainably across Australia, play a more active role in our members’ health and empower our people to deliver for members.

“We grew our membership by more than 32,000 to 1.195 million – the highest financial year-end membership in HBF’s 85-year history – and launched nine products across our HBF and see-u brands to provide greater choice and more affordable options.

“We will build on this progress in FY27, including planned changes to HBF’s extras products early in the new year as part of a package that we estimate will see an additional $26 million in dental benefits paid to our members over the year."