Compare health insurance funds

In Australia, private health insurance isn't compulsory, but it fills gaps that Medicare doesn't cover, private hospital treatment, choice of doctor, shorter wait times for elective surgery, and services like dental, physio, and optical through extras cover. It can also help you avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge and Lifetime Health Cover loading if you're a higher-income earner or wait too long to buy cover.

Yes, our service is completely free for you. We earn a commission from the health fund when you take out a policy through us, so there's no cost to you as a customer.

We start by learning what matters to you in a policy, so we can find the best value cover for your actual needs. Often people are paying for inclusions they don't need and will never use, and we can trim that back to save money. Just as often, people simply haven't shopped around in years, the policy that was competitive five years ago often isn't anymore, and funds rarely go out of their way to tell you that.

We compare funds on our panel, the funds that pay us a commission when you switch. That's not every fund in the market, but whichever fund you're with right now, we always compare your current policy against the best matching policy on our panel, so you get an apples-for-apples look at price and inclusions and can make an informed call on whether switching is worth it.

Indirectly, yes, via the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS). If you're a single earning above $101,000, or a couple/family earning above $202,000, and you don't hold an appropriate level of private hospital cover, you pay an extra 1-1.5% surcharge on top of the standard 2% Medicare Levy. Taking out hospital cover above the minimum threshold can let you avoid this surcharge entirely, which for higher earners is often more than the cost of the policy itself. This isn't a tax deduction, it's an extra tax you avoid, which is a different thing.

Generally, no, as long as you're switching to an equivalent or lower level of hospital cover, Australian law requires your new fund to recognise waiting periods you've already served with your old fund. You won't have to start those clocks again. Where it gets more complicated: if you upgrade to a higher level of cover or add benefits you didn't have before, you may need to serve waiting periods for the new or increased benefits only, not for the cover you already had.

We take care of all the paperwork for you, you don't need to chase down forms or juggle two health funds yourself. The whole process is normally completed within a few days.

We take care of cancelling your old policy once your new one has commenced, so you're never without cover and never at risk of being charged for two policies at once, you'll always have continuity of cover.

Yes. Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is a loading applied to your hospital cover premium if you don't take it out by 1 July following your 31st birthday. The loading is 2% for every year you're aged over 30 when you first take out cover, up to a cap of 70%, and it applies on top of your base premium. If you maintain continuous hospital cover for 10 years, the loading is removed. This means the earlier you take out hospital cover, even a basic policy, the more you avoid paying in loading over your lifetime.

No. We don't pass your details on to any of the funds on our panel, your name, email, and phone number are only shared with the health fund you actually decide to move forward with. Even then, you're unlikely to get a call. Usually you'll just get a welcome email and a copy of your policy mailed to your home address, and that's it.