HIF is proud to say we’ve been helping our members stay healthy for 70 years. It’s been quite a journey that has seen us grow and evolve to meet our members’ changing healthcare needs, first in Western Australia and then across the country. HIF was founded in 1954 as the Western Australian Government Railways Employees Hospital and Medical Benefits Fund Inc. As a fund, we have navigated many headwinds during that time, but always with a focus on supporting our members and Australia’s world-class health system.
Justin James, HIF CEO says, “As a WA based, member-first fund, our primary focus is our commitment to our members, which is anchored to value and affordability. Reinvesting surpluses into lowering premiums, enhancing benefits, and introducing new services are our key priorities now and into the future.
“As we mark 70 years as a fund, it’s timely to recognise that everything we do for the 100,000 lives we cover is driven by our team; so I’d like to thank our fantastic employees, our Board and all our members for their loyalty to HIF.”
As part of the 70th celebrations, HIF wants to say thank you to our members by giving them a chance to win one of 70 prizes. Enter via www.hif.com.au/70
If you’d like to learn a little more about HIF over the years, check out a snapshot of our history.
1954: HIF is born!
Our organisation started out in March 1954 as the Western Australian Government Railways Employees Hospital and Medical Benefits Fund Inc. Back then, we were a closed fund, so we weren’t open to the general public.
1978: A new name! A new open-fund era.
Goodbye, Western Australian Government Railways Employees Hospital and Medical Benefits Fund Inc. Hello, Health Insurance Fund of WA. Or HIF. That’s better, isn’t it? And we became an open health fund, so anyone could become a member.
2007: Introducing our new newsletter.
While we already had a newsletter (called Heartbeat), we gave it a member-focused overhaul in 2007. We even ran a competition asking our members to come up with a new name. The winner: SmartHealth.
2010: Here for all Aussies.
Marking our shift to becoming a truly nationwide health fund, we changed our name (again!), dropping ‘WA’ to become the Health Insurance Fund of Australia. Or just HIF to our friends. And boy, did we get a lot more friends. In 2010, we became Australia’s fastest growing not-for-profit health fund, according to the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC).
2012: HIF Second Opinion.
Receiving a diagnosis for a medical condition can be unnerving. It can cause doubt and uncertainty. That’s why, in 2012, we launched HIF Second Opinion, now part of HIF Virtual Care, giving eligible members access to a network of world-leading medical specialists and the opportunity to get a second opinion remotely. Visit hifvirtualcare.com.au for more details.
2012: Your go-to health hub.
We also launched our blog in 2012 – a free source of health-related information and inspiration. Healthy living. Nutrition. Mental wellbeing. Sleep. Exercise. It’s a kind of online health hub. And that’s what it’s called today: HIF Health Hub. If you haven’t already, check it out at healthhub.hif.com.au
2013: Go Wildcats!
We became a Perth Wildcats Diamond Partner in 2013 – a match made in health and wellbeing heaven. With a massive national profile and hundreds of thousands of followers across its socials, the Wildcats are the purrrfect partners to help us promote our shared values spanning healthy living, exercise, inclusion and diversity.
2016: A third option that’s an Australian first.
We’re all about giving our members more choices. And in 2016, in a first for the Australian health insurance industry, we gave new members a third gender option. A small change that makes a big difference to the thousands of people who identify as neither male nor female.
2018: Making it easy to minimise out-of-pocket expenses.
We launched our Access Gap Doctor finder tool in 2018, so you can find doctors who have signed up to our Access Gap arrangement, which minimises or eliminates out-of-pocket expenses, with a few clicks. Find out more at hif.com.au/accessgap
2019: Welcome to our Online Member Centre.
Five years ago, we launched our Online Member Centre, putting a whole heap of resources and functionality at your fingertips, so you can manage your membership and claims online, anytime. If you haven’t already, register at hif.com.au/members. It’s easy.
2019: Free mental health support.
We introduced Mental Health Navigator in 2019, too. Providing confidential online mental health support at no cost to our members, it’s part of hifvirtualcare.com.au
2020: Members can claim for medicinal cannabis.
In addition to being the year our CEO Justin James took the helm at HIF, 2020 is when we introduced a benefit for medicinal cannabis on eligible products. You can read more about it at hif.com.au/medicinal-cannabis. Another progressive step from your favourite health fund.
2021: So many new initiatives.
There was our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), submitted to Reconciliation WA, and our partnership with St John Urgent Care which provides no-charge urgent care consultations for members.
We also partnered with Valion Health to give eligible members who have cancer access to Valion’s Cancer Support Complete Program (hif.com.au/valion-health), and with Kieser, providing access to tailored physiotherapy for eligible members suffering from chronic conditions (hif.com.au/kieser).
Plus, we launched our accessibility widget in 2021, making our website more accessible than ever.
2023: More value-adding partnerships and tools.
Like SleepSpace, our online tool to help eligible members improve their sleep (hif.com.au/sleepspace). Like our partnership with Reset Mind Sciences to open a landmark mental health treatment facility, delivering psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. And like Sleep Eazzzy Baby, our program for new and expecting eligible parents, providing support throughout their early parenthood journey (hif.com.au/sleep-eazzzy-baby).
2024: Happy birthday to us!
We celebrate our 70th birthday! Phew, what a journey. Here’s to the next 70 years with our members.