How do I find my cheapest health insurance price?  

There are 3 steps to find your cheapest health insurance price and it is important to understand how each step impacts the price you pay. 

Step 1. Calculate your cheapest health insurance policy 

Start by finding the best policy based on your health needs and budget. To do this, you need to compare every Australian health insurer (including restricted insurers) and every policy available. Choosing a lower tier of Hospital Cover (Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold) will help reduce the cost of your health insurance premium. The healthslips.com.au Calculator will show you policy details and government-approved premiums for every policy that fits your search criteria, listed from cheapest to most expensive. You can edit and filter your results, including adjusting the tier and adjusting the premium to weekly or yearly payments, and compare multiple policies and premiums.      

The premiums quoted are the government-approved monthly premiums, which come from the Private Health Information Statements (PHIS) that health insurers create for every policy they offer. However this may not be the final price you pay. To calculate your final price, you need to complete steps 2 and 3.  

Step 2. Calculate your Rebate, Discount and Loading 

When you have chosen a policy that suits your requirements you need to work out if and how government incentives and penalties will affect the price you will ultimately pay. These are known as the Rebate, Discount and Loading. 

• Government Rebate: sometimes called the Private Health Insurance Rebate, this is an incentive that reduces your health insurance premium based on your income and number of dependants.  

• Age-based Discount: an incentive that reduces your Hospital Cover premium if you start cover before 30 and maintain it. Not all insurers offer this discount.  

• Lifetime Health Cover Loading: a penalty that increases your Hospital Cover premium if you did not take out cover before the age of 31. This is a mandatory government loading.  

There is one more step to finalise your price. 

Step 3. Finalise your price 

There are 2 final aspects that may affect the price you ultimately pay for your health insurance policy: 

• Insurer promotions: insurers may offer discounts, services, waivers, gifts or other offerings, on a permanent or limited basis, that could lower your premium. Insurers offer promotions to attract new customers and to incentivise existing customers. Insurer promotions change regularly, therefore healthslips.com.au cannot include all insurer promotions in our calculations. You should contact your insurer of choice to find out what promotions are available, what conditions will apply and how this affects your health insurance premium. 
• Adult dependant variations: if you have an adult dependant between the ages of 18 and 31 who is not a full-time student, they may be classified as a non-student dependant by your health insurer. If you have a child over the age of 18 who has a disability, they may be covered as a dependant with a disability by your insurer. Every insurer treats these types of adult dependants differently, so you should contact your insurer directly to find out how these may affect your health insurance premium.