A multigenerational white family are sitting outside on their patio in the sun. One young child sits on their father’s shoulders, while another is held by their grandmother.

Life Stages in Health Insurance

Whatever stage of life you’re in, find a health insurance policy that suits you.

Home Health Insurance Life Stages

Young adults

Women

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Singles

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Couples

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Starting a family

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Families

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Single parents

Kids and teens

Dependents

Empty nesters

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Seniors

→ What life stage are you in?
→ Young adults health cover
→ Women’s health cover
→ Singles health cover
→ Couples health cover
→ Pregnancy cover
→ Family health cover
→ Single parent health cover
→ Kids and teens health cover
→ Dependents health cover
→ Empty nesters health cover
→ Seniors health insurance
→ What about Lifetime Healthcare Loading?
→ Where can I find and compare health insurance?

What life stage are you in?

Each stage of life has its distinct pleasures. Maybe you’re 35 and training for a marathon? Or perhaps you’re 65 and getting a fabulous new knee after all those marathons? Whatever stage you’re in, there’s an insurance policy to support you.

Broadly speaking, you can take out private health cover for hospital treatments, extras, or both. Hospital-only cover comes in basic, bronze, silver, and gold tiers, which are standardised across providers. For extras cover, providers have more flexibility around what they offer. Different levels of hospital and extras cover will be appropriate for the different phases of life you enter.

A trio of racially diverse young adults are looking into the distance and laughing.

Young adults health cover

Becoming an adult is exciting, but it also means saying goodbye to your parent’s cover. Getting your own health insurance as a young adult could give you peace of mind and help you look after your health now, rather than making up for it later.

Explore young adults health cover

A racially diverse group of young to middle-aged women are sitting outside talking and laughing.

Women’s health cover

Women are often more likely than men to use a range of health services, from seeing a GP to being admitted to hospital.¹ Health insurance could help cover the costs of being proactive in looking after your health.

Explore women’s health cover

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Singles health cover

When you want cover for priority number one (you!), singles health cover could be where you find it. You’re young and healthy, but it never hurts to have additional peace of mind. Plus there are financial incentives from the government to take out a policy early.

Explore singles health cover

A white young adult couple sit on the wooden floor in their home. The woman is leaning over to kiss her male partner’s cheek, while she holds a record sleeve in one hand. Their black cat is lounging in front of them.

Couples health cover

Choosing couples health cover could make balancing your budget simpler plus look after yours and your partner’s health. If you’re in a serious relationship, you might be doing some kind of planning for a joint future, and health insurance could be a part of that.

Explore couples health cover

A heavily pregnant young Asian woman stands in field at dusk. She holds her stomach protectively as she smiles and looks into the distance.

Pregnancy cover

If you’re thinking about starting a family, you’ve probably got a lot on your mind. Is the house big enough? Will I ever sleep again? What about health insurance? While we can’t tell you what to name your kid, we can help with that last one.

Explore pregnancy insurance

An Asian father holds his young daughter on his lap. Her arm is loosely wrapped around his neck and shoulders. Her grandfather sits beside her and smiles at them. They’re sitting outside near a lake.

Family health cover

A family can take a lot of different shapes – but for the purpose of health insurance, it’s one or two parents plus their dependent children. Having children can mean having less flexibility in other areas of life, so you might appreciate the greater flexibility afforded by private health insurance.

Explore family health cover

A young olive-skinned woman with short curly hair and yellow headband plays with her young toddler. He has his hands thrown up in the air in playful surprise. His mother mimics the gesture.

Single parent health cover

No one works harder than a single parent and single parent health cover could work hard for you and your health.

Explore single parent health cover

A young Asian woman sits in an office chair with a whiteboard behind her. Her young daughter is sitting on her lap and playing with something off camera. Her young son is standing beside the chair looking at a phone screen. The woman is on her phone while checking what her son is doing.

Kids and teens health cover

Family health insurance policies are a way to include your kids and teens on your cover without the extra hassle or cost of another policy.

Explore kids and teens health cover

A young black woman listens to her young daughter who is sitting on the kitchen counter. Her white wife leans over her shoulder, also listening intently to their daughter. They are all wearing aprons and are preparing to bake something.

Dependents health cover

Contrary to popular belief, a dependent on your health insurance can be more than just a child under 17. Young adults (up to age 32!), full-time students, and people with a disability may all qualify, depending on the circumstances and the policy in question.

Explore dependents health cover

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Empty nesters health cover

With the kids out of the nest, it could be time to check in on your health insurance and your changing needs.

Explore nesters health cover

A senior man with white hair stands on the deck of his home. He is looking into the distance as he thinks.

Seniors health insurance

Growing older could mean more trips to the doctor and needing harder working health insurance as a result. If you’re 65 years or older, you can also get a higher rebate on your private health insurance.

Explore seniors health insurance

What about Lifetime Healthcare Loading?

Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) Loading is designed to incentivise people to take out appropriate levels of hospital cover earlier on. It adds an extra 2% onto your Health Insurance premium (up to a maximum of 70%) for every year you don’t have Private Health Insurance from the first financial year after you turn 31. This can really add up and make your health insurance pretty pricey down the track!

So if you take out hospital cover before 1 July following your 31^st birthday, you won’t pay the LHC at all. But if you take out Hospital Cover for the first time when you’re 40, you might be paying 20% more on your premiums than if you’d taken it out when you were 31.

But if you’re in it for the long haul, there’s a benefit. Once you have paid LHC loading for 10 years of continuous hospital cover, the loading will be removed!

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Need help finding Health Insurance for your stage in life? We’re here to help. Save time and effort by comparing a range of Australia’s Health Funds with iSelect, either online or by phoning 1800 784 772.

Compare health insurance policies the easy way

Save time and effort by comparing a range of Australia’s health funds with iSelect

Compare policies

iSelect does not compare all health insurance providers or policies in the market. The availability of policies will change from time to time. Not all policies available from its providers are compared by iSelect and due to commercial arrangements, your stated needs and circumstances, not all policies compared by iSelect are available to all customers. Some policies and special offers are available only from iSelect’s contact centre or website. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers