How much does private health insurance cost?

Explore how much private health insurance costs on average in Australia and see how your policy compares.

The cost of private health insurance will depend on different factors such as the fund you choose, the policy you select, your family group (how many people are being insured) and the state you live in.

As part of Canstar’s Health Insurance Star Ratings and Awards, our expert researchers assessed the cost and features of policies and providers all across Australia. From the extensive research, Canstar is able to provide the average cost of health insurance in Australia based on policies on our database. We’ve considered different life stages ranging from young to mature, as well as those looking for pregnancy and birth cover.

Below we’ve broken it down by combined hospitals and extras, hospital only, and extras only policies.

How much does health insurance cost?

The average cost of combined hospital and extras health insurance for a single person is:

• ‘young person’ under 36 years old – $3,017 a year (about $251/mth)
• ‘established person’ between 36 and 59 – $3,456 a year (about $288/mth)
• ‘mature person’ aged 60-plus – $3,829 a year (about $319/mth).

Canstar Research factored in the private health insurance rebate in these calculations. If you have private health insurance, you may be able to receive a rebate from the government to help cover the cost of your premiums. The rebate is income tested and different thresholds apply depending on whether you are single or a family.

The data below visualises the average cost of hospital and extras health insurance policies, based across the different life stages in Australia. The calculation only considered a lower level of extras cover.

Keep in mind that these costs are an average of policy costs across Australia, and provide only a general guide of what costs might be for those looking for a lower level of cover for both hospital and extras. Your location, personal circumstances, fund, level of cover you choose, and many other factors will impact the cost of a policy. To obtain an estimate closer to your requirements, you can use Canstar’s health comparison tool and change the filters to suit your situation.

What does hospital-only cover cost?

The average annual cost of hospital-only cover for a single person is:

• ‘young person’ under 36 years old – $2,257 a year (about $188/mth)
• ‘established person’ between 36 and 59 – $2,713 a year (about $226/mth)
• ‘mature person’ aged 60-plus – $3,076 a year (about $256/mth)

To make it easier to compare products, providers have to categorise hospital policies into Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers. Each tier is required to provide a minimum standard of coverage, with Basic policies providing the lowest level of cover and Gold policies the highest. Providers can also offer ‘Plus policies (excluding Gold), which provide extra cover above the minimum standards.

The excess you choose can also impact the cost of your premiums. Like car insurance, typically the higher your excess is, the lower your premiums. But it also means you’ll pay more upfront if you are admitted to hospital.

Here’s a closer look at how much a hospital policy may cost you depending on your lifestage and family group. Note that policies for an established person must include cover for heart and vascular treatment; and policies for a mature person must include for heart and vascular treatment as well as joint replacements.

What does extras-only cover cost?

The average annual cost of extras-only cover for a single person is:

• lower level of coverage – $877 a year (about $73/mth)
• mid level of coverage – $1,046 a year (about $87/mth)
• higher level of coverage – $1,157 a year (about $96/mth).

The cost of extras insurance can vary depending on the types of inclusions you want. As there is no standard tiers for extras-only insurance, Canstar has broken it down into three different tiers. Tier 1 represents a lower amount of coverage, while Tier 3 represents a higher amount of coverage. These are further defined in our Health Insurance Star Ratings methodology.

Here’s the average cost of an extras policy for singles, couples and families, based on the three different levels of cover.

Source: www.canstar.com.au – 03/04/2023. Based on standalone hospital insurance policies on Canstar’s database. Overseas student health cover (OSHC), visitor and corporate policies, as well as policies from restricted funds, are excluded. The Australian Government Private Health Insurance Rebate, Base Tier for under 65s, of 24.608% has been applied to premiums. Average premiums based on state averages weighted by proportion of insured population (APRA Quarterly Private Health Insurance). Ratings profiles based on those used in Canstar's Health Insurance Star Ratings, refer to the methodology for more information.