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Compare Health Insurance

Health Insurance Finder® helps you compare health insurance from 30+ funds in Australia.

What is private health insurance?

Private health insurance helps with the cost of healthcare in a private hospital. It lets you avoid public waiting lists, choose your own doctor and can provide you with your own private room. Not all policies are created equal, so it's important to compare health insurance and find the best health cover for you. There are two main types of cover: hospital and extras.

What does private health insurance cover that Medicare doesn't?

Private health insurance give you access to the same hospital services covered by Medicare – but you get access to your own doctor, private room and waiting times are significantly shorter.

Extras insurance cover does cover healthcare costs that aren't typically covered by the public healthcare system, such as dental, physiotherapy and optical.

If you go to a private hospital as a private patient, Medicare will pay 75% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee. Your health insurance covers the other 25%, plus accommodation costs and theatre fees. Sometimes there's a gap between the MBS fee and the total cost of your procedure. You may need to pay this unless your health insurance has no gap cover.

How much does private health insurance cost?

The cost of private health insurance varies, but we crunched the numbers from 30+ Australian funds to see what you'll have to pay for hospital and extras cover per month, depending on the level of cover you choose.

Hospital cover
Extras cover

Tier	Average	Treatments included
Basic	$86	Restricted cover for hospital rehab, psychiatric and palliative
Bronze	$100	18 categories including joint reconstructions and ENT
Silver	$150	26 categories including dental and podiatric surgeries
Gold	$193	38 categories including joint replacements and pregnancy

Extras cover	Average	Included benefits
Core	$32	At least General Dental and Ambulance Cover
Medium	$67	At least Major Dental, Optical and Physio
Comprehensive	$116	Treatments like Orthodontics and Hearing aids

Prices quoted are based on a single 30 year-old in Sydney, earning less than $90,000 with a $750 hospital excess from June 2022. Extras categories used the same methodology as the 2022 Finder Health Insurance awards.

Getting health insurance had been on my to-do list for the longest time, but I found it very confusing. I realised it was actually split into two parts - hospital cover (anything in the hospital and the more expensive part) and extras cover (for the dentist and those new specs). I've actually switched policies 3 times in the last 4 years to take advantage of the sign up offers funds give when you join. I've saved around $800 so far.

— Alex Holderness, head of publishing

Why compare health insurance with Finder?

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With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.
You pay the same price as going direct – we charge no fees.

Compare cover from 30+ funds

4 benefits of health insurance

Choose your hospital
Enjoy a private room during your stay. You can even choose your preferred doctor.

Skip waiting lists
Public lists can stretch months or years. Go private and be seen in days or weeks.

Save on tax
If you earn over $93k, private hospital insurance can shave money off your tax bill. Easy.

Peace of mind
Rest easy knowing you're top of the list if things go wrong. You'll be back to normal in no time.

❮ ❯

APRA data shows combined policies are held by some 11.76 million people in Australia. Here's something insurers like to keep quite about: you can split your hospital and extras policy and get them from 2 different providers. By doing so, you can shape both policies to your actual needs while saving money at the same time.

James Martin
Editor for insurance

Funds including Medibank, Bupa, HCF and NIB are delaying their premium increases until later in the year (this usually happens every April). They all let you pay a year (or more) of your health insurance upfront. For example, HCF lets you lock in for 18 months. It's delaying its 3.33% price increase until September 2023. That means you could lock in 2023 prices until March 2025. Depending on the policy you have, you could save up to $134 by prepaying.

Gary Ross Hunter
Insurance and innovations editor

I've always been a big proponent of private health cover - and geez I was glad I had it when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. With any unexpected serious illness, the type of treatment - and crucially the speed of it - could make all the difference.

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Freelance finance journalist

Health insurance is heavily regulated in Australia, which makes it easier to compare health insurance policies like-for-like. That said, funds still have different products and prices, so it's still important to make sure you're getting the right cover for you and your family.

Tim Bennett
Finder health insurance publisher

Learn more about private health insurance

Hospital Cover

Hospital cover helps pay for a range of hospital treatments in a private hospital. This can include joint reconstructions, hernia operations and childbirth.

Extras Cover

Extras cover helps towards out-of-hospital healthcare. This includes trips to the dentist, eye care by an optomotrists, physiotherapists and natural therapies.

Do you need health insurance?

Take our 30 second quiz to see if you need private health insurance at all. It's an important product, but not everybody needs it.

Health insurance rebate

The private health insurance rebate makes health insurance cheaper for most people. Your exact rebate is determined by your age and income.

Private health and tax

Whether you're a high earner or turning 30, there are a few things you need to know about private health insurance at tax time.

How much is health insurance?

The price of health insurance can vary a lot based on your age, income and your lifestyle.

Switching health funds

Switching health funds is quick and easy. You can transfer your waiting periods, while potentially saving money with new sign-up deals.

Annual Limits

Extras benefit limits place a cap on the amount you can claim. They typically reset every 12 months. A higher limit may mean a more expensive policy, but not always.

Waiting Periods

Waiting periods apply to both extras and hospital policies - you'll need to serve these before claiming a benefit. Some extras policies let you skip some waiting periods.

Public vs private health insurance comparison

Not sure if private health insurance is worth it? Here are some key differences between the public and private healthcare systems in Australia:

	Public system	Private health insurance
Doctor	A public hospital will allocate a doctor for you. You don't get to choose.	You can choose which doctor you see.
Private room	You'll likely end up in a shared room in a public hospital.	Insurance gives you access to a private room if there's one available.
Waiting lists	Waiting lists for elective treatments can range from a few weeks to a few years.	Private insurance usually involves a shorter wait. For some procedures, you may even be able to pick your date.
Treatment types	Medicare doesn't cover most dental, hearing aids or other out-of-hospital treatments.	Extras can give you cashback on out-of-hospital services such as optical, dental, psychology and hearing aids.
Ambulance costs	In most cases, Medicare won't pay for your ambulance except in Queensland and Tasmania.	Most health funds include cover for an emergency ambulance, even on Basic policies.

Compare hospital cover tiers

Gold
Gold cover includes all hospital treatment categories, including joint replacements, pregnancy and insulin pumps.

Silver
Silver cover includes at least 26 hospital treatments, including lung and chest, dental and podiatric surgery.

Bronze
Bronze cover includes at least 18 hospital treatments, including joint reconstructions, gynaecology, and ENT.

Basic
Basic cover often has only limited inclusions, but it can help avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge and Lifetime Health Cover loading.

Why you can trust Finder's health insurance experts

We're free

Our health insurance engine is completely free to use. You pay the same as buying directly from the health insurer. Better still, we regularly run exclusive deals that you won't find on any other site.

We're experts

We've researched and rated hundreds of policies as part of our Finder Awards. We've published 250+ guides and our in-house experts regularly appear on Sunrise, 7News and SBS News.

We're independent

Unlike other comparison sites, we're not owned by an insurer. That means our opinions are our own and you can compare nearly every health fund in Australia on the site (and find a better deal).

Frequently asked questions about health insurance

Private health insurance can help you cover the cost of medical care in a private hospital (hospital cover) and help pay for out-of-hospital medical costs that aren't covered under Medicare (extras cover). Most private health insurance policies also cover the cost of emergency ambulance transport, which isn't covered by Medicare in most states.
When you take out a private health policy, you have the option of going to a public or private hospital. If you go to a private hospital, or if you're treated as a private patient in a public hospital, your health fund will help cover the cost of care. The main advantages of using the private system are that you can choose your own doctor, get access to improved facilities like a private room, and have access to shorter waiting lists for important surgery.
In the public system, prices are set according to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Medicare pays 100% of the cost. You won't be left out of pocket, but you won't get your choice of hospital, doctor or appointment time either. In the private system, prices are usually higher than those listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule and Medicare will only pay 75% of what it would have, had you gone public. Your private health insurance covers at least the remaining 25%. If your private doctor charges more than a doctor in the public system, which is usually the case, you'll have to cover the extra expense.
Remember, with hospital insurance, you'll also have to serve waiting periods. For example, if you have a pre-existing medical condition, you'll have to hold your policy for at least a year before your cover would chip in towards the cost of treatment.
Extras insurance helps towards non-hospital-related healthcare, such as dental work, new glasses and physiotherapy appointments. Usually, an extras policy will pay a percentage of your bill – this could be anywhere from 50% to 90%. In other cases, they will cover the whole bill, up to a certain amount. Extras policies also have waiting periods. For example, you often need to hold a policy for a year before you can claim for orthodontics.
Health insurance is community rated, which means you don't have to pay more for pre-existing conditions and the price you pay isn't impacted by your age.
However, here are a few things that can impact your quote:
- Your excess or co-payment. When you take out insurance, you can agree to take some responsibility for the health cover costs in return for lower premiums – this is your excess. You only pay it if you go to hospital. The higher your excess, the lower your premiums will be.
- Your location. If you live in a regional area of Australia, your insurance might cost you more due to poorer access to health facilities as well as potential travel and accommodation expenses.
- Which fund you choose. Some funds and policies are better value than others, charging less for similar cover. If you take the time to compare health insurance, you can find the cheapest health cover for your needs.
People from countries that Australia has a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) with can access some treatment from Medicare. If you don't have an RHCA, you'll need Overseas Visitor Health Cover. As of 2021, Australia has an RHCA with Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK. Traveling to Australia without coverage could result in huge medical bills if you are sick or injured.
There are dozens of health funds in Australia. Most are open, meaning that they are available for anyone to join. Others are restrcited and only available to certain people, such as doctors, teachers or police. Here is a list of most of the health insurance funds in Australia.
ahm
Australian Unity
ACA
Apia
Bupa
CBHS Members
CDHF
CUA
Defence Health Limited
Doctors Health Fund
Frank
GMF
GMHBA
GU Health
HBF
HCF
HealthCare
Health.com.au
HIF
Latrobe
Members Own
MyOwn
Medibank
Mildura health fund
Navy Health Fund
Nurses and Midwives
onemedifund
Peoplecare
Police Health
Phoenix
Qantas Health Insurance
Queensland Country
RBHS
RT Health
Suncorp
St.LukesHealth
Teachers Health
Transport Health
TUHealth
UniHealth
Westfund
Thanks to the most recent PHI reforms, which have introduced Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold tier policies, finding cover for a specific service is easier than ever. Every tier is required to provide cover for specific services so you can check out what is included in each and select the one that covers the treatment you require. Some services often performed out of hospital are only covered when performed in a hospital, like the cost of MRI scans. Our guides for specific treatments have more details:
Drug and alcohol treatments
Psychiatric care
Psychology
Dental insurance
Major dental
Dental and oral surgery
No gap dental
Optical
Eye care
No gap optical
Major eye surgery
Physiotherapy
Gym benefits
Pregnancy
IVF and assisted reproductive services
Baby health insurance
Cosmetic surgery
Weight loss surgery
MRI scans
Joint replacement
Sterilisation
Breast reduction
Sex reassignment surgery
Pathology tests
Elective surgery
Acupuncture
Appendicitis
Remedial massage
Blood pressure monitors
Joint fluid replacement injections
Orthotics
Cancer
Prostheses
Orthodontic treatment
Insulin pumps and diabetes
Naturopathy
Endodontic services
Natural therapies
Palliative care
No, health insurance is not tax-deductible, but it can help you make some savings, including on tax. For example, the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is a rebate based on your and your family's income and any dependents. Depending on your income, you may be entitled to a private health insurance offset at tax time or reduced insurance premiums.

Tim Bennett

Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more.