How long can I stay on my parents’ private health policy?

For many young Aussies, getting a job, moving out of the family home and becoming financially independent are major life milestones. However, with a cost-of-living crisis and housing becoming increasingly unaffordable, young people are facing a number of financial pressures.

If you’re a young adult and wish to be covered by private health insurance but are concerned about the cost, then it may be possible to remain on your parents’ policy—depending on their insurance provider.

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How long can you stay on your parents’ private health insurance?

In Australia, it’s generally possible to remain on your parents’ private health insurance policy up to the age of 31, but only if your health insurance provider allows for it. The age limit was increased from 24 to 31 in the 2020/21 Federal Budget, as a means of alleviating financial strain on young adults.

While it’s now possible to remain on your parents’ private health cover until the age of 31, it’s not guaranteed that you will be able to do so. The Federal Government did not make it mandatory for health funds to accept dependents up to the age of 31.

This means health insurance providers are free to implement their own limits for how long a dependent can stay on their parents’ policy. The amount of time you can stay on will depend on an individual insurance provider, as well as your parents’ willingness to let you remain on their private health cover. For example, at the time of writing, Bupa allows dependents to stay on their parent’s policy until their 32nd birthday.

Which health insurance providers allow you to stay until age 31?

Although health funds are permitted to allow young adults to remain on their parents’ cover up to the age of 31, the cut-off is lower for some providers. We looked at Australia’s five largest health insurance providers (by market share) to find out the cut-off age for adult dependents:

• Medibank (including ahm): Adults can stay on their parents’ health insurance policy as a Child Dependent until they turn 21, or as a Student or Adult Dependent until they turn 31 (depending on certain restrictions such as if they are married or in a de facto relationship). If you’re between the ages of 21 and 30, aren’t married or in a de facto relationship and not studying full time, you may still be able to remain on your parent’s policy, but a higher premium will usually be charged.

• Bupa: Student and non-student dependents can stay on eligible family health covers until their 32nd birthday—depending on certain restrictions. This can include having to study full time at a university, TAFE or other educational institution (apprenticeships excluded), not be receiving income from an education provider and not being married or living in a de facto relationship.

• HCF: Dependents can be listed on a family policy at no extra cost until they turn 22, or until they turn 31 if they are full-time students who aren’t married or in a de facto relationship. There are also options for adult children up to the age of 31 who are not studying full time and aren’t married or in a de facto relationship to stay on Extended Family Cover at an additional cost.

• nib: Adult children can stay on their parent’s policy free of charge until the age of 21, or if they are full-time students who are not married or in a de facto relationship until 31. There are also options for adult children up to the age of 31 who are not studying and not married or in a de facto relationship to stay on family cover at an additional cost.

• HBF: Adult children who are not married or in a de facto relationship can stay on a family policy free of charge until the age of 21. They may be able to stay on the policy until 25 if they are full-time students or earning a taxable income of less than $24,500 per year.

Source: Providers’ websites (22 April 2025).

Some smaller health insurance providers will also allow young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance up to the age of 32. At the time of writing, both Health Partners and Teachers Health allow dependents to remain on policies up to this age, and other funds may also be willing.

It’s a good idea to check with your individual health insurance provider to find out their cut-off age for young adults to remain on a family policy. You may also want to read the fine print for your family health insurance cover, including the Private Health Information Statement (PHIS) that applies.

What does it cost to stay on your parents’ health insurance?

Canstar Research crunched the numbers for health insurance policies on our database to find out the average cost of a hospital and extras policy, as well as a hospital-only and extras-only policy for a couple versus a family.

We found that the annual cost difference between couples cover and family cover for each kind of policy is a relatively small fraction of the overall cost.

For example, for Gold tier hospital and extras health insurance, an average family policy costs just $39 per year more than a couples policy. You can see the figures below.

It’s worth noting that the main cost increase would come at the expense of the young adult leaving the family policy to take out their own ‘singles’ policy at an equivalent level of coverage. The difference between a couple and family policy for parents is minimal—in fact, many health funds charge the exact same amount according to Canstar Research.

Differences in average annual health insurance premiums for families and couples

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Source: www.canstar.com.au – 24/03/2025. Based on insurance policies on Canstar’s database. OSHC, visitor and corporate policies are excluded. The Australian Government Private Health Insurance Rebate, Base Tier for under 65s, of 24.608% has been applied to premiums. National average based on state averages weighted by proportion of hospital insured persons per APRA Quarterly Private Health Insurance (December 2024). Current premiums as of 5 March 2025.

Note that this table does not take into account certain variables, such as whether a health insurance provider charges more for dependents who are not studying full time. You will need to ask your individual provider if they charge more in this situation.

What happens to health insurance when you turn 31?

In Australia, if you do not have private health insurance by age 31, then your premiums will become more expensive for each year that you do not take out a hospital cover policy. This is because of a system known as Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading.

If you do not have private health insurance by July 1 after your 31st birthday, then a 2% increase will apply to your premiums for each year you wait to take it out. This caps out after 35 years with a loading amount of 70% of your annual premiums.

What does this mean for young people? If you remain on your parents’ private health insurance until you are in your 20s, and then do not immediately take out a policy of your own, you will not be faced with lifetime health cover loading until you turn 31.

Once you do turn 31, you will need to take out a policy of your own if you want to avoid paying this loading.

If you do have a gap between leaving your parents’ private health insurance policy and taking up your own, you may need to re-serve relevant waiting periods before being covered for certain services and benefits under your new policy, so this may also be a consideration for you.

Likewise, if you are earning over a certain threshold as a single or a couple and you do not have suitable private health insurance, you may need to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge at tax time, so this is another reason you may consider taking out a health insurance policy of your own.

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