Essentials

At the time of writing, there are 48 health insurers in Australia, each of them offering a vast array of policies at different levels of cover and varying prices. So, how do you choose? How can you decide what’s the best private health insurer in Australia? Here, we break it down.  What’s the best private...

When you take out a health insurance policy in Australia, there’s a waiting period before you can claim. On Hospital Cover, the waiting period length is set by the Australian government, but on Extras Cover, insurers can choose their own waiting periods. So, does health insurance with no waiting period exist, and how can you...

Physiotherapy is one of the most common treatments Australians claim on private health insurance. In fact, during the April to June 2025 quarter, Aussie insurers paid $131.64 million in physiotherapy benefits. But there are lots of misconceptions about how much you can claim for physio, when your limits reset and how to find the best...

If you need a colonoscopy in Australia, you could face a long wait. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, people waited between 133 and 197 days for a non-urgent colonoscopy in a public hospital in 2022 (between 4 and 6 months). For faster treatment, you might be wondering if you can go...

So, you’re having a hospital procedure as a private patient, and you’re covered by private health insurance. That means your treatment is free, right? Unfortunately that’s probably not true. There are 4 types of costs you might face for Hospital Cover claims. Here’s what they are, and how to prepare for them: 1. Excess  Most...

If you’re looking for the best health insurance policy that meets your specific health needs and budget, the healthslips.com.au Calculator is your new BFF. Not only is it one of the only health comparison tools in Australia that compares every single policy on the market without any bias, it has some unique features that can...

Tonsillectomy is among the most common elective surgeries performed in Australia and there can be a long wait for public hospital treatment – up to 185 days (which is more than 6 months), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows. You might choose to use health insurance and get treated at a private hospital,...

If you’ve visited a dentist to improve your smile recently, you might not have been smiling when you went to pay. Dental care in Australia is generally not covered by Medicare, which means it can hurt your hip pocket. Having Extras Cover is one way to eliminate dental bill shock, but often health insurance doesn’t...