Compare health insurance quotes.

Each health fund will have various benefits and policy features that some individuals may prefer over others. It’s difficult to define “the best health insurance policy” when each Australian has different needs and preferences when it comes to protecting themselves and their families from unexpected health care expenses.

Generally, the best health insurance policy for you will be the one that:

• Is comfortable within your budget
• Provides the type of cover you want
• Provides the level of cover you want
• Is set up with a company you trust
• Is transparent about its conditions
• Is customisable to your needs

Once you know what you’re looking for, a health insurance comparison can help you identify how each fund competes in premiums, coverage conditions and other factors that are important to you.

Your health insurance comparison should ideally scout a wide range of insurers, as you don’t want to be limited to just three or four options when there could be several better ones on the market that you simply hadn’t heard about.

Health Insurance Comparison currently compares a range of policies from eight different health funds, including some of Australia’s leading health insurers like Bupa, AHM and HCF. View our full panel here.

It may be useful to look into the Australian Medical Association’s annual Health Insurance Report Card. It aims to shed light on how health insurance really works and provide consumers with clear, concise information regarding different health funds.

We’ve also defined our top ten health funds by market share and customer satisfaction, which may be a helpful read in your process of comparing health funds.

Keep in mind, however, that the results of each fund can change drastically year upon year. Before committing to a policy, you should always look at a wide range of factors, conduct a health insurance comparison with the help of our team of industry experts and read the policy documentation from the health fund you are interested in.

There are a number of differences but the main difference is Medicare only covers hospital treatment as a public patient in a public hospital and a set range of non-hospital services such as GP visits and eye check-ups

Private health insurance offers benefits beyond the public health system. Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of ambulance journeys and some out-of-hospital costs such as dental check-ups and glasses.

In addition, appropriate private health cover allows you to choose your own doctor, a private hospital, cover gap fees and bypass long elective surgery waiting lists.

There are multiple government incentives for people to buy private health insurance, such as avoiding The Medicare Levy surcharge.

Find out more about why private health insurance might be a more suitable option for you.

The excess is the amount of money you chose to pay if you need hospital treatment in return for lower premiums. It can save you money on your monthly premiums but can lead to higher out-of-pocket costs if you do need to be admitted to hospital.

If you’re admitted to hospital as a private patient you’ll be required to pay the excess up front. The hospital will then bill your insurer for the remaining costs for covered services.

The excess often doesn’t apply to day surgery. Your policy determines how your excess gets billed. For some policies, the excess gets capped, so you can only be charged once per person per calendar year, or twice with a family or couple policy.

You can minimise out-of-pocket expenses by reviewing your cover regularly.

Identify which funds have the features you want, and shop around for value. It sounds simple but health insurance can be confusing. Start by reading our guide on how to compare and select the right policy.

It’s worth taking time to note down what health services you and your partner or family need today and in the future.

Doing this will make it easier to decide what level of hospital cover you need; Gold, Silver, Bronze or Basic. Look for the health fund package that includes everything you need without including a large number of items you’ll likely never use.

Then go through the same exercise for your extras. Do you wear glasses? How much are you currently paying for a dental check-up? Are you likely to need physio in the future?

There are other things to consider when choosing a health fund. How long will you have to wait before you can access treatment? What rebates can I get? Are there any limits to what I can claim on my extras? Will I get hit by gap fees?

As you can tell, comparing health insurance can be a time consuming and confusing process. That’s why our specialists can compare policies from our panel of insurers in a matter of minutes and quickly help you find the cover you need at a price you can afford.

Just because you’re already signed up with a health insurance provider, doesn’t mean you’re locked in forever. If you find a better alternative, you won’t be penalised for shopping around.

You can switch at any time without incurring additional charges. It’s a consumer’s market – so take advantage of the competition.

Even better, if you’ve already paid some premiums in advance and you decide to switch, your insurer will calculate the difference and refund the remaining balance, usually in full.

Just remember that your unserved waiting periods will transfer to your new provider. So if you end up switching health insurance on an equivalent cover, you may need to finish these waiting periods before you can make a claim.

Think you could get a better deal? Switching health cover doesn’t need to be a hassle, let us help you through the process of changing providers.

Having private health insurance means you can avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS), avoid Lifetime Health Cover loading and get a tax rebate of up to 33.88%.

If you earn over $90,000 as an individual or $180,000 as a family you need to take out private health insurance to avoid being hit by the Medicare Levy Surcharge. This can be up to 1.5% of your income depending on how much you earn.

Lifetime health cover loading, meanwhile, affects people who don’t take out private hospital insurance before they’re 31. If you decide to take our cover at a later age you’ll pay the loading fee.

This is 2% for each year you didn’t hold cover from the 1st July following your 31st birthday. So if you’re 35 when you decide to take out private health cover, you’ll pay a 10% loading fee. LHC is capped at 70%.