Scanning the market for a better deal…
Scanning the market for a better deal…
Private health cover is one of the most over-paid bills in the country — policies are deliberately hard to compare and premiums creep up every April. The good news: switching funds keeps your waiting periods, costs nothing, and can save more than almost any other bill category.
Hospital cover has four tiers: Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Paying for Gold when Silver covers your actual needs is wasted money — map inclusions to real-life use, not worst-case scenarios.
Raising your excess from $250 to $750 typically drops your premium by 10–15%. If you're unlikely to be hospitalised in a given year, it's almost always net-cheaper — even allowing for the chance you do claim.
Extras cover (dental, optical, physio etc.) is profitable for funds because most members under-claim. Add up what you'd reasonably claim in a year — if it's less than the annual premium for extras, drop them or downgrade.
Under Australian rules, previously-served waiting periods carry over when you switch to equivalent or lower cover. You don't restart from zero — the friction is much lower than most people expect.
Premiums increase on April 1 each year. Shopping around in February or March — and timing your switch — is the cheapest way to dodge the bump and lock in a better deal.
If you took out hospital cover after age 31, you may be paying a Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading on top of your premium. After 10 years of continuous cover the loading is removed — make sure your fund has actually removed it.
No — if you move to equivalent or lower cover, your previously-served waiting periods carry over to the new fund. You only re-serve a waiting period if you're upgrading to a higher level of cover for that specific benefit.
These are government-standardised tiers. Each tier includes a defined list of clinical categories — Gold covers everything, while Basic covers the minimum. Picking the lowest tier that includes the services you'd actually use is the single biggest lever on price.
Yes — health insurance comparison is live in saivy. Run a comparison and our AI will rank the plans on the market against your specific needs, with no provider bias and no commissions.
February and March, before the April 1 premium increase. Switching at this point lets you avoid the bump and lock in pricing at the lower rate.
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