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Health Insurance for Dependents
Health Insurance for Dependents
Written by
Madeline Pettet
Edited by
Laura Crowden
Reviewed by
Andres GutierrezCompare Health Insurance Policies
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Who is considered a dependent for health insurance?
Long story short
Dependents up to 31 years of age may be covered on family policies
They might need to meet certain conditions from the insurer though, and insurers may have a lower cut-off age.
Family cover costs can change depending on the type of dependent covered
Kids and students may not incur an additional premium compared to other dependents.
Getting and keeping their own hospital cover could be smart
Dependents can avoid higher premiums later on if they take out their own hospital cover once they leave their family’s cover.
Who is considered a dependent for health insurance?
To help streamline health insurance for your family, you can purchase a family health cover policy. Family health cover is for one or two adults (the parents or guardians), and their dependents.
While the government introduced some guidelines that health insurers need to follow – like the maximum allowable age insurers can set for dependents – insurers can also apply their own rules and definitions. This includes the age range of certain dependents they’ll cover (within the legislatively allowable minimum and maximum ages, of course). Insurers also don’t have to offer cover for every type of dependent.
Generally speaking, dependents fall into four main categories.
Children who are 17 years old and under
Until they reach that milestone 18th birthday, insurers will class your kids as dependent children. Having said that though, they may be excluded from this definition if they’re in a de facto relationship.
Young adults who are aged 18 to 31 years old and not studying full time
About half of young Australians aged 18 to 29 are still living with their parents.1University of Melbourne – More Australian adult children are living with their parents longer Despite this, not all of them may qualify as a young adult dependent on a family policy.
To stay on your parents’ policy, young Aussies between 18 and 31 years old need to be single (that’s no marriage or de facto relationship) and not be receiving a full-time education (there’s a separate dependent definition for those still studying).
Additionally, while the government has said insurers are welcome to select 31 as the maximum age for young adult dependents, it doesn’t always mean you’ll be able to find cover that goes that far. Some policies will only allow adult dependents to be covered until 18, 21, 22 or 25.
Along with setting their own age range, insurers can also apply other conditions to this dependent definition. For instance, the dependent might have to have their own extras policy with the insurer before they can be listed on their parents’ family hospital policy.
Young adults who are aged 18 to 31 years old, as well as full-time students
Further study isn’t just for fresh-faced kids out of high school. Plenty of young adults find a little upskilling or re-skilling goes a long way. Some may not realise though that this full-time student status also means they can qualify as a dependent on family health cover.
Like other types of dependents, they’ll need to be living the single life. They’ll also need to fall within the insurer’s age range. While this can go up to 31 years of age, remember insurers are allowed to pick an earlier cut-off date.
Adults who are 18 years old and over with a disability
For this dependent type, the insurer will be looking to see that the person is either on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) or they otherwise meet the insurer’s own definition of a person with a disability.
Further, love can be in more than just the air. Unlike other types of dependants, adult dependents with a disability are allowed to have a partner and still remain on family health cover.
Something to note here is that you or your adult child may meet the criteria to be an adult dependent with a disability, along with one or more other dependent definitions. Which definition you pick and run with is entirely up to you. For example, you may find opting to go with one definition over another means you have a greater range of policies to pick from.
How long can I stay on my parents’ health insurance?
This depends on their health insurance policy. It may offer cover for dependents over 18 – with certain restrictions as described above – or you may not be covered from when you turn 18.
Of course, what the policy says is one thing and what your parents say is another. They may be ready to move to a different policy, like separate singles policies or a couples policy. Unfortunately, if that’s the case, there won’t be any room for you on the policy anymore, no matter how their old family policy treats dependents.
What is extended family cover?
Extended family cover is the name given to family health policies that cover at least one dependent non-student as well as one to two adults.
If you’re looking for health cover for kids or students instead, it’ll simply be referred to as family cover.
How much does family cover with different dependents cost?
If you’re adding dependent children to your family cover, you generally won’t see your premium change, regardless of how many kids you have. The same goes for dependent students.
Other types of older dependents, like non-students and those with a disability, can attract different premiums.
The graphs show the average monthly premiums of Australian single-parent or family health insurance policies with different dependents as of October 2024.
Scroll through our handy price graphs to see the costs in your state.
Source: PrivateHealth.gov.au – October 2024
Note: All averages are based on multi-person policies that included cover for a child, student, non-student, or dependent with a disability as defined by the Australian Government’s Department of Health. Policies selected had an excess of $750 and were available to buy in October 2024. Rebates are not included, and any hospital cover is exempt from the Medicare Levy Surcharge.
What happens when a dependent turns 31?
Besides being the moment when they discover that there is no wrong side of 30, that 31st birthday (or thereabouts) is when young adults need their own health insurance. That’s because no family policy from any insurer can cover them anymore, unless they’re classed as a dependent with a disability.
Starting on 1 July after they turn 31 (a win for those born 2 July, less so for our June babies), the clock ticks down for when the Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading takes effect.
In a nutshell, the LHC loading is an additional 2% loading on top of your premium for every year over 30 that you did not have health insurance. The way to avoid it is to get your own hospital cover.
Helpful tip:
Thankfully, the LHC loading doesn’t start as soon as you get kicked off your family’s health policy. Instead, if you had hospital cover on your base day (that’s 1 July after you turn 31), you can go a total of 1,094 days without hospital cover (known as days of absence) before the LHC loading kicks in.
Remember though, these days of absence are cumulative across your lifetime. If you use up a thousand of them between leaving your family’s policy and picking up your own hospital policy, you’ll only have 94 days left if you ever end up without cover again.
Andres Gutierrez
General Manager – Health
Has the government increased the age of dependents on private health insurance policies?
If you could have sworn dependents used to be younger, you’d be right. Back in 2022, the Federal Government changed the maximum age for dependents on private health insurance from 24 years old to 31 years old.
At the same time, they also completely removed the age limit for dependents with a disability.
The reasoning behind the first move was to further encourage young adults to take out and hold private health insurance, while giving them that extra thinking time when they could still be covered under their parents’ policy.
The second change means dependents with a disability have improved access to health insurance.
It’s important to recognise though that these changes are voluntary. This means insurers don’t have to offer cover right up to 31. They just now have the opportunity to do so.
Similarly, while insurers can’t set the age ranges for dependents with a disability, they don’t have to offer policies that cover them.
Where can I find and compare health insurance?
iSelect makes it easy to compare health insurance, whether you’re looking to cover just yourself or a long list of dependents. You can compare a range of health insurance options from different providers online, or speak with one of our health comparison experts on 1800 784 772.
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About the Life Time Health Cover Loading
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- 1.University of Melbourne – More Australian adult children are living with their parents longer