What is a closed policy?

A closed policy is a health insurance policy that is no longer available for new customers to buy but continues to provide cover for existing customers. Health insurers may close policies to new sales at any time at their own discretion. 

In some cases, an insurer may close all policies from a particular health insurance brand. This might happen if:  

• A health insurer is purchased by another insurer  

• A health insurer merges with another insurer   

• A health insurer discontinues a particular brand for commercial reasons. 

Insurers can continue to provide cover to existing customers of closed policies indefinitely. They are also allowed to discontinue the policy and force customers to change to a new policy at any time.  

How do I know if I have a closed policy? 

Your insurer will contact you to let you know that your policy has closed. If your policy is with a health insurance brand that has merged or been acquired by another insurer, you will be notified about how this affects you. 

Here are some examples of closed policies:  

• Transport Health was acquired by RT Health in 2016. Transport Health’s policies are now closed to new customers and managed by HCF, which has merged with RT Health.  

• Federation Health merged with Latrobe Health Services in 2004. Federation Health policies are closed, and managed by Latrobe. 

• HBF decided to close all policies from Territory Health Fund in January 2025, following its acquisition of Territory Health brand operator Queensland Country Health Fund in 2023. 

Can I claim on a closed policy? 

If you have a closed policy, you can still claim on it, however you may not be able to upgrade or downgrade your cover. If you want to change your level of cover, you may need to consider policies from another insurer. You will not need to serve waiting periods again if you change to a policy at the same level of cover, or downgrade to a lower level of cover.   

If you want to change your policy, you can use the healthslips.com.au Calculator to compare your existing policy, including closed policies, with every policy currently available from every insurer.