How Much Does It Cost to Stay in a Private Hospital Per Day in Australia?

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What might I need to pay for if admitted to hospital?

How much does it cost to stay in hospital per day as a private patient?

How do I pay for a private or public hospital stay in Australia as a private patient?

How do I avoid unexpected hospital fees?

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Long story short

Your hospital bill includes two parts: the medical treatment fees and the hospital costs

Hospital costs are things like operating theatre fees and accommodation expenses.

Hospital costs vary for private patients due to lots of factors

This includes how long you need to stay in hospital, if you have a shared or private room, the hospital you go to, and if you have private health insurance.

You can limit unexpected costs by doing some legwork ahead of your hospital admission

You can ask the hospital for estimates before your surgery and check what your health insurer covers.

What might I need to pay for if admitted to hospital?

When you’re talking about hospital services, costs tend to be broken into two categories: hospital and medical or treatment costs.

Hospital costs include:

• fees for accommodation (a private or shared room)
• use of the operating theatre or intensive care unit
• in-hospital therapy and allied health services (e.g. physiotherapy)
• prostheses, medicines, and dressings.

Medical costs include:

• surgeon, anaesthetist, and other specialist fees
• medical imaging (e.g. radiology, blood tests, and x-rays).

Because there are many reasons why someone might need hospital treatment, hospital costs can also vary by a lot. For instance, someone having an organ transplant is likely to need to stay in hospital a lot longer than a patient getting cataract surgery.

The hospital you choose, whether you’re a public or private patient, and whether you’re in a private or shared room can also make a difference.

Just so you know

This page focuses on hospital costs for elective surgery in general, rather than on specific procedures. If you’re looking for information on medical procedure costs, we go into lots of detail on other dedicated pages.

How much does it cost to stay in hospital per day as a private patient?

Sally chooses a public hospital

In 2025–26, Victorian resident Sally was admitted as a private patient to her local public hospital for surgery. The staff there let her know that her estimated hospital costs per day were $760 and that she’d likely only be in hospital for a night or two.

Jameel chooses a private hospital

In 2023–24, Jameel had surgery at a private hospital as a private patient. Upon admission, he asked for an estimate of his expected hospital costs. Staff let him know that he would be staying a day or so with his hospital costs amounting to $1,737 each day.¹Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – Hospital Casemix Protocol Annual Report 2023–24

Note: Scenario examples are hypothetical and use the average hospital cost for a private patient in that financial year. Your hospital costs may be different.

How do I pay for a private or public hospital stay in Australia as a private patient?

Often when people talk about hospital cover, they focus on how much of their medical costs private health insurance handles. But hospital insurance can cover hospital costs, too, not just your surgeon’s fees.

In fact, the Australian Government has rules about the minimum amount health insurance funds must cover for hospital costs (excluding private rooms). Unfortunately, like lots of Government rules, things can get a bit complicated. Amounts change depending on the state or territory, whether the patient goes to a private or public hospital, and whether it’s a same-day or overnight procedure.

Something else to be mindful of is that these minimum benefits might not actually cover the full hospital costs, leaving patients with gaps to cover.

Jumping back to Sally’s experience briefly, her estimate as a private patient in a public hospital was $220 more than the minimum benefit.

However, your health fund might go beyond the minimum benefit amount for your hospital stay. They might even cover all your hospital costs. It comes down to your health insurance policy.

Speaking of your policy, even if your insurer agrees to cover the full cost of your hospital stay, you could still have out-of-pocket expenses. For instance, many hospital cover policies come with excesses. This is an amount you need to pay before your health insurance cover takes over. The advantage is, having an excess can mean a lower health insurance premium.

Some hospital insurance policies have co-payments. These are sort of like an excess, but this case you pay this amount for every day spent in hospital.

Helpful tip

Hospital costs work a little differently if you’re a public patient. Medicare takes care of them all (if you’re eligible for Medicare).

While going public means you don’t need to pay hospital or doctor’s fees, it can mean a longer wait for elective surgery, no option for a private room, and you can’t choose your treating doctor.

Andres Gutierrez

General Manager – Health

How do I avoid unexpected hospital fees?

Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to avoid unexpected out-of-pocket costs. The key is being proactive. For instance, you can:

• ask your health fund about any hospitals they have agreements with
• speak to the hospital ahead of your treatment and ask for estimates, including any Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) item codes
• review your private health insurance coverage, including checking any waiting periods, exclusions, minimum benefits, and excesses and co-payments.

The more thoroughly you prepare, the more likely you are to skip any hospital bill surprises. Plus, informed financial consent is an important part of health care. Good health professionals will be happy to answer your questions and support you to make your decision.

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

If you’re hoping to have health insurance help pay for your next hospital stay, it’s time to pick up a policy! iSelect makes it easy to compare a range of hospital cover options from different providers in a matter of minutes, whether it’s your first policy or you’re looking to switch. All you need to do is speak with one of our health insurance comparison experts on 1800 784 772 or check out our online comparison tool.