We understand everybody is unique and by completing the form below you can get a personalised quote to suit the level of cover you need. Click the 'Join Now' button when you are ready and make the switch to Australia's most experienced health fund.
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We will apply a 'base tier' rebate to the price quoted. If you are not entitled to the 'base tier', choose another rebate tier below. If you don't want to claim the rebate, choose 'no rebate'.
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You must select at least one Hospital or Extras cover option.
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*Price calculated with 0% LHC loading. Based on your personal circumstances an LHC loading may be applicable.
If the information you provide when you join differs from this, the cost of your cover may change.
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Choosing to take an excess is a way for you to reduce the cost of your cover, without reducing the level of cover you have. It works in much the same way as the excess on your car or house insurance: if you need to make a claim you pay the excess first and then your cover kicks in.
Lifetime Health Cover is an incentive designed to encourage people to take out private hospital cover early in life and to keep it. If you join private hospital cover by the 30th of June following your 31st birthday, you’ll pay the ‘base rate’ that the health fund offers. For every year you are over 31 when you join, the government charges you a 2% loading on top of the base rate.
Once you have a loading, the only way out of it is to hold hospital cover continuously for 10 years!
There is a loophole that might help you out if you’ve held hospital cover but dropped it since you turned 31 – it’s called ‘days of absence’, and what it means is that as long as you’ve held private hospital cover after the age of 31, you can drop your cover for a maximum period of 1,094 days (yes, that precise!) throughout your lifetime while still not getting slugged with a loading (or additional loading if you already have one).
Even if you’re already past the age 31 cut-off, every year you delay taking out private hospital cover is costing you more in the long run, and eventually, at an age when you may need private hospital insurance the most, you may be least able to afford it.
Depending on your age, income and the number of dependent children you have, the government will chip in a portion of the cost of your private health insurance.
Most people choose to receive their rebate upfront as a reduction in the cost of their cover, that way every time you make a payment the government also pays its share. You can also choose to pay the full price and claim the rebate as an end-of-financial year tax offset.
The amount of rebate you are eligible for is directly linked to your annual taxable income.
Anyone who earns under a set income threshold is entitled to the base tier (maximum) rebate. As your income increases, the amount of rebate you are entitled to decreases: the more you earn, the less you get.
The income thresholds are set by the Australian Taxation Office and will remain fixed until 30 June 2021. The rebate levels are adjusted in April every year.
The current income thresholds and rebate levels are:
*The family income threshold is increased by $1,500 for each 'Medicare levy surcharge dependant child' after the first.
If you fall into an income tier that means you're eligible for a lower rebate, there are a couple of things you can do about it:
1. Do nothing at allYou can choose to continue to receive the base tier rebate and sort it out with the tax office when you're lodging your income tax return, without penalty.
2. Nominate a rebateNominating a different level of rebate will increase the amount you pay for your health insurance as the amount the government is paying on your behalf will decrease.
If you would like more information, visit the Australian Taxation Office website at www.ato.gov.au.
