Comparing plans to maximise your savings…
Comparing plans to maximise your savings…
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 on the Free plan. Sign up for free, run a comparison, and saivy agents will gather quotes from funds. Our AI then ranks them 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.
Answer a few questions and agents gather quotes from providers for you.