What are the benefits of Private Health Insurance?
Being a private health insurance member allows you to be treated in a private or public hospital as a private patient. This means that you may be able to choose the doctor that treats you, the hospital you are treated in and a time for treatment that suits you. Private health insurance also provides cover for services not covered by Medicare such as physiotherapy, dental, optometry and podiatry services. Many people rely on private health insurance to access services they would otherwise be unable to afford. The decision to purchase private health insurance is a personal choice. People who cannot afford the premiums for private health insurance or do not wish to take out private health insurance for any other reason, continue to have the right to access the public hospital system through Medicare on the basis of clinical need.
• At least 30% off your premium – the Federal Government contributes 30%, 35% or 40% (depending on the age of the people covered on your policy) of your private health insurance premium, which effectively cuts the cost of your cover by, at the least, almost a third • No Medicare Levy Surcharge – private health insurance may reduce the tax you have to pay. If you’re single and earn more than $50,000 a year, or a couple with a combined annual income of over $100,000* and don’t have private hospital cover you may have to pay the Government’s 1% Medicare Levy Surcharge. That’s on top of the normal 1.5% Medicare Levy imposed on all eligible tax payers • Take out and maintain private hospital cover by age 31, without any break (or any break less than 3 years), and you may not have to pay the Government’s Lifetime Health Cover loading on your premiums. Under the initiative, your age is determined by how old you are on 1 July before you join.
