What’s the best health insurance for Aussie families?

If there’s one thing you can count on as a parent, it’s that accidents and injuries are likely to happen. Whether it’s a sprain on the soccer field or grazes from falling off a bike, kids’ bodies often go through a bit of rough and tumble. While minor injuries aren’t a big deal, if you or your child experiences a more serious injury or comes down with an illness that requires hospitalisation, having private health insurance for families could make a big difference.   

Since child-only health insurance isn’t widely available, many parents choose to get Family Cover, to make sure the whole household is covered for injuries and illnesses. But Family health insurance policies vary wildly in price, so you’ll want to search for the best deal. For example, we found that the cheapest Silver tier Family policy in Queensland works out at around $397.86 a month, compared to almost $1,182.40 for the most expensive. That’s a difference of $9,414.48 a year! 

Here’s what you need to consider when choosing the best health insurance for families in Australia. 

What is family cover? 

Family cover is a health insurance policy that covers the healthcare costs of 2 adults and as many children as you have living under the same roof (including step-children, adopted children and foster children). Family policies can’t be extended to cover your parents nor your siblings.  

If you’re a single parent, you’ll need a Single Parent policy. 

You don’t have to wait until you’re a parent to get a Family policy. In fact, it’s a good idea to take out Family Cover before you start a family, to make sure your children will be covered from birth. That could save you thousands if your newborn needs private hospital treatment. 

As you can see from the table below, there’s a massive range in policy prices for Family health cover, which is why we recommend using our Calculator to find the best price for you. 

FAMILY POLICY PRICE COMPARISONS 

Combined Hospital and Extras Cover in QLD, excess up to $750, including open and restricted insurers  

What are the benefits of Family Cover?  

Having Family health insurance means you’ll have peace of mind that if you, your partner or one of your children needs hospital treatment, they can receive private hospital treatment quickly. You’ll be able to choose their doctors and more likely get them a private hospital room. This could be a big advantage if your child needs an operation such as a tonsillectomy, which has an average waiting list of 121 days. Private health insurance means they can get treated faster at a private hospital.  

If you choose to get Extras Cover, all members of your family will be covered for certain non-hospital treatments, such as dental care, glasses, physiotherapy and speech therapy. One benefit of having a family policy is you can share the limit across all members of the family, which is helpful if one person has higher needs in a particular area, eg orthodontic treatments. 

There may be financial benefits to getting private health insurance, too. If your family income is higher than $194,000, Hospital Cover means you’ll avoid paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) at tax time. 

You might be eligible for cheaper premiums if your household income is $302,000 or less, thanks to the Private Health Insurance Rebate, which will bring down the cost of your premiums by up to 32.812%. That income threshold increases by $1,500 for every child you have after the first one, so we recommend checking your Private Health Insurance Rebate eligibility.  

How do I choose the best health insurance for families in Australia?  

The first step to choosing the best health insurance for families is to consider your budget and the types of healthcare you’ll need covered, and whether you want Hospital Cover, Extras Cover or both. For example, if you want to be covered for hospital visits, you’ll need Hospital Cover. If you want dental cover for your children’s dental appointments, you’ll need Extras Cover. If you want to be covered for ambulance treatment and transport, both Hospital Cover and Extras Cover will include this, or you could opt for standalone Ambulance Cover.  

Is ambulance treatment free in your state?

When looking at policies for you, your partner and your children, make sure you check the policy limits, excesses and Gaps. Some insurers offer no excess for children, and others provide no-Gap dental policies for kids.  

What is a Gap?

What is the difference between Hospital and Extras Cover?

The amount of time your children will be covered depends on the insurer. Some insurers will cover dependants until the age of 31 if they are single, however if they’re not in full-time study this may cause your premium to rise. Check with your insurer about its criteria for adult dependants.  

To find the best deal for your family’s health insurance, healthslips.com.au makes it easy to compare every policy from all 48 health insurance providers, without having to enter any contact details. Whether you’re looking for a new policy or want to compare your existing family cover, our Calculators help you find the best value. 

Compare your health insurance policy with others on the market, or find a new policy.

Trudie McConnochie

Writer and Researcher

Knowledge is power – that’s the guiding principle behind everything Trudie writes, and it’s a philosophy she brings to her work at healthslips.com.au. By breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand blogs and stories, she aims to empower Australians to make the best choices and an informed decision around private health insurance.

Trudie understands firsthand some of the complexity of private health insurance having moved to Australia from New Zealand and having to navigate a vastly different public healthcare system and health insurance structure.

Trudie holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies (journalism major) from the Auckland University of Technology.

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