Compare Health Insurance for Singles

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of Health Insurance: Hospital Cover and Extras Cover. Hospital Cover is for in-hospital treatment as a private patient, and Extras Cover is for out-of-hospital medical treatments that aren’t typically covered by Medicare, like dentistry.

You can choose a policy that offers Hospital and Extras combined. Or if you’re not someone who’s likely to get much value back for Extras like Dental or Optical, then Hospital-Only Cover could be a more suitable option for you. It’s all about balancing out your needs and your budget.

If you need a treatment that’s classified as elective surgery – that is, if it’s medically necessary but can be planned in advance – there are sometimes pretty long waits in the public system. If you have Hospital Cover, the wait time is usually shorter and you can choose your treating doctor and the hospital where you receive care, as long as it has an agreement with your insurance provider. You might also be able to have the privacy of your own hospital room when you’re admitted into a private hospital for treatment.

Many Health Insurers offer policies that combine both Hospital and Extras Cover. This is known as Combined Cover, and it’s a common choice for singles who take out Health Insurance.

Combined Cover gives you broader coverage than Hospital or Extras alone, so that means it’s usually more expensive. There are also a lot of different coverage options, so it can be a good idea to shop around and weigh your options before taking out a policy.

Yes, switching your level or type of cover is generally a smooth process with most providers.  

If your circumstances change, it could be worthwhile comparing options before making the switch.

When you sign up for Health Insurance, there are generally waiting periods before you can access some treatments. If you switch to a similar or lower level of cover with another provider, then you can likely avoid re-serving waiting periods you’ve already served.

You can take out a Health Insurance Policy with a pre-existing condition, but bear in mind that providers will most likely impose a 12-month waiting period on benefits for hospital treatment.

This rule is in place to make sure that people don’t just take out policies and cancel or downgrade after they receive treatment, which would transfer the costs to long-term members of that policy.

While it might be more convenient to take out a policy as a couple, it isn’t necessarily cheaper than taking out two individual policies. A Couples Policy often ends up costing more or less the same amount as two Singles Policies. So if you’re a couple with different health needs, you might each benefit from the individualisation of Singles Cover.

There could be! If you’re between 18 and 29, providers can offer discounts of up to 10% off your Private Health Insurance Hospital premiums. The discounts typically stay in place until you turn 41.

You could also have a better shot of being eligible for age-based discounts on a Singles Policy. If you’re covered as a dependent on a Family or Single Parent Policy, those discounts don’t apply. You can either be covered as a dependent or have your own policy and be eligible for an age-based discount, but not both. 

It’s all about balancing the level of cover you want against your budget. With Extras, it makes sense to choose the policy that suits your lifestyle. If you play a lot of sport, you might want to cover physiotherapy, or if you wear glasses and regularly visit the optometrist, you might be interested in Optical Cover.

If you’d like some help finding a suitable policy for your needs, just hop online or give us a call on 1800 784 772, and we’ll help you compare Health Insurance for singles from our range of providers.