Child Health Insurance

Reviewed and updated 12 November 2024

Child health insurance is insurance that covers one or more dependent children under the age of 18 who are single. Child dependants include children who are adopted, step children and fostered. Child-only policies do not cover any adults.

Health insurance for child dependants only is available as:

Hospital Cover
Extras Cover
Combined Hospital and Extras Cover
Ambulance Only Cover.

There are currently only 2 insurers in Australia that offer health insurance for child dependants only. They are:

These are restricted insurers which means you must meet certain criteria to be eligible for cover.

If you do not meet this criteria, you will need to take out a Family policy or Single Parent policy with an open insurer to cover your children and yourself.

How much does Child health insurance cost?

For child dependants only under the age of 18 (per month):

The cheapest Hospital Cover ranges from around $84.80 in the NT up to around $162.42 in QLD, SA and TAS
Extras Cover starts at around $27.68 in the NT and ranges up to around $33.28 in VIC, QLD and TAS for the lowest cover
Combined Hospital and Extras Cover starts from between around $119.07 in the NT and ranges up to around $195.71 in QLD, SA and TAS for the lowest level of cover.

Key factors affecting the cost of Child health insurance

The cost of a policy covering one child dependant depends on the tier of Hospital Cover and extent of Extras Cover, where they live, the excess and any co-payments:

Tier of Hospital Cover:
- Bronze Cover
- Silver Cover
- Gold Cover.
Extent of Extras Cover
Where your child dependants live – you pay more if:
- they live in a state or territory where there is a higher rate of claims
- their state or territory charges more for hospital services.
Higher excess: applies if you want to pay this in exchange for a lower premium.
Co-payment: applies if you want to make a contribution for every day they are in hospital in exchange for a lower premium.

Other factors that could impact your premium

If your income is $151,000 or less as a single person, or if you’re living with a partner with a combined income of $302,000 or less, you may be eligible for the Private Health Insurance Rebate, which gives you reduced premiums on:

Hospital Cover
Extras Cover
Ambulance Only Cover.

If you’re single and your income is more than $97,000 or living with a partner and your combined income is over $194,000 per year, and you do not have Hospital Cover that covers every member of your family, you may have to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge. Holding a child-only policy will not make you exempt from this Surcharge.

The Age-based Discount and Lifetime Health Cover Loading do not apply to child-only policies.

What is the best health insurance for a child?

To find the best health insurance for one or more dependant children, ask yourself these 10 questions:

Q 1:	What do you want from your child’s health insurance? Are they currently fit and healthy and just need the basics? Do they have a pre-existing condition? What is your family history of health conditions?
Q 2:	What type of health insurance do they need? Hospital Cover Extras Cover Combined Hospital and Extras Cover Ambulance Only Cover
Q 3:	If they need Hospital Cover, what level? Bronze Silver Gold
Q 4:	If they need Extras Cover, what treatments are they likely to need and use? There is no point taking out Extras Cover if your children are not going to use it.
Q 5:	For Extras Cover, what are the claim limits, annual limits or lifetime limits on the policy?
Q 6:	What is your budget? Does the cover you selected fit within your budget? Are you eligible for the Private Health Insurance Rebate?
Q 7:	Will you have to pay an excess if you make a claim on Hospital Cover? How much is the excess? Will you be able to afford the excess if you make a claim?
Q 8:	Will you have to make a co-payment if you make a claim on your Hospital Cover and, if so, can you afford it?
Q 9:	Will you have to pay out-of-pocket fees, such as medical and hospital Gaps, and if so, can you afford this?
Q 10:	Check what are the waiting periods before you can make a claim for any policy you are considering.

How can I compare health insurance for a child?

Use our free Calculator to find the best cover and cheapest health insurance policy for your dependant children.

We compare every insurer and every policy, with no commercial bias, and guarantee you the cheapest policy.

You can also calculate whether you are eligible for the Private Health Insurance Rebate.