If you're looking for the best health insurance in Australia, it's basically impossible to get a single answer. Hospital vs extras, price, how much you're covered for, benefit limits, waiting periods and more – there's a lot to consider.
To give you a starting point, we've hand-picked 7 policies based on 400+ plans. Our data sources include the Finder Health Insurance Awards, the Ombudsman and APRA, plus customer reviews from the Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards.
The Finder Awards for Health Insurance are run every year to find the best-value policies for hospital and extras cover. The winners are based on each product's Finder Score.
The Finder Score ranks every health policy in our database on value for money. The score factors in the 38 standard hospital treatment categories, covered extras treatments, total extras benefits and the monthly premium. Here's the breakdown of factors we consider for a combined product. For standalone extras or hospital cover, only the relevant half of the score is used.
Our product data for health insurance comes directly from the government. Specifically, the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman. Each month, the ombudsman releases raw data for all health insurance products on the market.
You can actually download this data yourself here. Unfortunately, unless you're a pro computer programmer, it's not going to be very useful! That's where we come in – our engineers turn this data into something you can actually understand. The tables of products on our site and our health insurance quiz all use this data.
The ombudsman also releases a yearly report called State of the Health Funds. We use this to understand how each fund deals with customers. The report tells us which funds receive the most complaints, which funds offer the most no-gap treatments, the percentage of revenue each fund returns as benefits and other useful info.
APRA, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, releases quarterly statistics about the private health insurance industry. These statistics include information like the number of people that have private health insurance in each state, how much they get back in premiums and what gap they're paying on medical treatment.
We don't always use the APRA statistics when picking a specific top pick, but they are invaluable to us when we need to understand the industry as a whole. They also help us to understand what kind of cover Australians are most likely to take out over time.
We run the Health Insurance Customer Satisfaction Awards every year to find out Australia's favourite health funds. This sees us do a massive survey asking Aussies which health funds they use, which funds they love and which funds they hate!
In 2023, we asked 765 customers about health insurance funds. We use this data to understand which funds have top customer satisfaction and customer service. We use this to justify some of our top picks.
This won the 2023 Finder Award for best value silver policy. It scored higher than all 200+ silver plans we assessed. It covers 29 hospital treatments – 3 more than a typical silver policy. Bonus points: HCF is not-for-profit so money goes back to members, not shareholders.
Finder 2024 best value bronze award winner.
An average of nearly 90c back on every dollar spent on premiums.
HCF received a high proportion of complaints compared to other funds.
86.7% of medical services have no gap – Bupa, HBF, NIB and more all do better.
Cheaper bronze options are available but they give you less for your money.
HCF was the winner of our bronze category at the 2024 Finder Awards. It covered more treatment for less money than any other fund.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Back neck and spine Blood Bone joint and muscle Brain and nervous system Breast surgery Cancer Dental surgery Diabetes management Digestive system Ear nose and throat Eye excluding cataracts Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Heart and vascular system Hernia and appendix Implantation of hearing devices Joint reconstructions Kidney and bladder Lung and chest Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Pain management Palliative care Medically necessary plastic surgery Podiatric surgery Rehabilitation Skin Sleep studies Tonsils adenoids and grommets
Extras Treatments
Extra treatments not covered
Top pick for families (hospital and extras)
Bronze Plus Simple Hospital $750 Excess + Top Extras
This combined hospital and extras policy could be good for complete families. Bupa's Top Extras policy covers orthodontics, dental check-ups are free with certain dentists and there's no excess for kids. You're also exempt from paying the Medicare levy surcharge if you earn over $194,000 a year as a family.
Kids can stay on the policy until 31. No insurer beats this.
No excess or co-payment fees if your kids end up in hospital.
$0 dental check-ups for the family at Member First Platinum dentists.
Orthodontics included with Top Extras.
Every family is different. Make sure this option covers what yours needs.
Insurers including Latrobe and Westfund can also cover kids up to age 31.
Bupa's Bronze Plus Simple is cheap but it wasn't a 2024 Finder Award winner.
Every family has slightly different health needs, so you should always do your own research and make sure the policy covers the treatments you and your family want.
We selected Bupa because it has several benefits for families. It has one of the largest hospital networks in Australia, no excess for kids, $0 dental check-ups for the family at Member First Platinum dentists, orthodontics are included with its Top Extras and your children can stay on the policy until 31.
Plus, 91.1% of Bupa's medical services have no gap. This is the 7th best out of all open membership health funds. There are 23 in total. Its Bronze Plus Simple Hospital option is also one of the cheapest bronze policies on the market. Out of 118 policies, it was the 4th cheapest, $1 more than ahm.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Blood Bone joint and muscle Brain and nervous system Breast surgery Cancer Dental surgery Diabetes management Digestive system Ear nose and throat Eye excluding cataracts Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Hernia and appendix Joint reconstructions Kidney and bladder Lung and chest Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Pain management Podiatric surgery Skin Sleep studies Tonsils adenoids and grommets
Extras Treatments
General Dental Major Dental Endodontic Orthodontic Optical Non-PBS Pharmaceuticals Physiotherapy Chiropractic Podiatry Psychology Acupuncture Remedial Massage Hearing aids Glucose monitor
One of the only good value basic hospital policies on the market. Many basic policies don't cover any hospital treatments. HBF Basic Elevate covers 18. Bonus points – it lets you avoid the Medicare Levy surcharge (MLS) (the tax you need to pay if you earn over $97,000 as a single).
92.5% of hospital services have no gap (out of pocket expenses) – the best of all open health funds.
It's only $2.60 more than the cheapest policy in Finder's database of 480 policies.
If you solely want to avoid the MLS, there are some marginally cheaper options.
Bronze hospital cover may be better value depending on your health needs.
Its no gap record is beaten by rt health (93.5% vs 92.5%). rt health is only open to transport workers.
It won the most recent Finder Awards for best basic hospital policy. These awards compared all eligible basic hospital policies on the market. It won based on value for money, covering more treatments in a private hospital for a lower premium than any other fund.
While basic hospital cover allows you to avoid paying the MLS if you earn over $97,000 a year as a single or $194,000 as a couple, they're often terrible value for money – many don't cover any hospital treatments at all. HBF's Basic Plus Elevate actually gives you some cover in return for your money.
Additionally, 92.5% of hospital services have no out-of-pocket costs, according to the latest ombudsman report. That's more than all 22 other open membership insurers, including the 4 major funds, Bupa, HCF, Medibank and nib.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Blood Bone joint and muscle Cancer Dental surgery Digestive system Ear nose and throat Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Hernia and appendix Joint reconstructions Kidney and bladder Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Skin Tonsils adenoids and grommets
ahm won the 2023 Finder Customer Satisfaction award. Out of the 750+ customers surveyed, it scored highly for customer service, value for money and application process. It also has some of the cheapest hospital policies on the market.
90% of hospital charges are covered. Several insurers including Bupa, HBF and St.Lukes are better.
83.8% of medical services have no gap. This is the 5th worst out of 23 health funds.
ahm's gold option isn't the cheapest gold policy available on the market.
We asked 765 Australian customers for their opinion about their health fund. ahm scored highly for ease of application and customer service. 86% of people said they would recommend it to a friend. No fund did better than this.
This comes with lots of benefits you don't get with other insurers. In addition to pregnancy cover, continuity of care and IVF cover, you get access to its 24/7 Medibank Nurse service, an OptimalMe program for mums-to-be and a pregnancy health concierge. The Growing Family Extras cover includes pre and post-natal classes, and much more.
Extremely comprehensive pregnancy cover.
The extras option includes antenatal and postnatal classes, pregnancy compression garments and an Australian Breastfeeding Association membership.
It's efficient. Medibank has the lowest management expenses of all open health funds.
You may still have out-of-pocket expenses.
Only 83.80% of Medibank medical services have no gap (e.g. out-of-pocket expenses). Many including Bupa, HBF, NIB and Westfund are above 90%.
It's not the only good value option. Finder 2024 Gold Award winners included St. Lukes, HBF and Health Partners.
Medibank offers a lot of pregnancy-related benefits that you won't get with other insurers, including 24/7 Medibank Nurse service, an OptimalMe program for mums-to-be and a pregnancy health concierge.
Additionally, the extras portion of the policy goes further than others we researched including ahm, Bupa, St.Lukes and HBF.
Medibank is also above average for percentage of extras charges covered (52.60% vs 49% overall) according to the latest ombudsman report.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Assisted reproductive services Back neck and spine Blood Bone joint and muscle Brain and nervous system Breast surgery Cataracts Cancer Dental surgery Diabetes management Dialysis for chronic kidney failure Digestive system Ear nose and throat Eye excluding cataracts Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Heart and vascular system Hernia and appendix Hospital psychiatric services Implantation of hearing devices Insulin pumps Joint reconstructions Joint replacements Kidney and bladder Lung and chest Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Pain management Pain management with device Palliative care Medically necessary plastic surgery Podiatric surgery Pregnancy and birth Rehabilitation Skin Sleep studies Tonsils adenoids and grommets Weight loss surgery
Extras Treatments
General Dental Major Dental Endodontic Orthodontic Optical Non-PBS Pharmaceuticals Physiotherapy Chiropractic Podiatry Psychology Acupuncture Remedial Massage Glucose monitor
One of the only good value basic hospital policies on the market. Many basic policies don't cover any hospital treatments. HBF Basic Elevate covers 18. Bonus points – it lets you avoid the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) (the tax you need to pay if you earn over $97,000 as a single). The not-for-profit also won Finder's 2024 best health fund of the year award.
92.5% of hospital services have no gap (out-of-pocket expenses) – the best of all open health funds.
It's only around $2 more than the cheapest policy in Finder's database of 480 policies.
If you solely want to avoid the MLS, there are some marginally cheaper options.
Bronze hospital cover may be better value depending on your health needs.
Some restricted funds, such as Doctors' Health (93%), have an even better no gap record.
It won the 2024 Finder Awards for best basic hospital policy for the second year in a row. These awards compared all eligible basic hospital policies on the market. It won based on value for money, covering more treatments in a private hospital for a lower premium than any other fund.
While basic hospital cover allows you to avoid paying the MLS if you earn over $97,000 a year as a single or $194,000 as a couple, it's often terrible value for money – many don't cover any hospital treatments at all. HBF's Basic Plus Elevate actually gives you some cover in return for your money.
Additionally, 92.5% of hospital services have no out-of-pocket costs, according to the latest ombudsman report. That's more than all 23 other open membership insurers, including the 4 major funds, Bupa, HCF, Medibank and nib.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Blood Bone joint and muscle Cancer Dental surgery Digestive system Ear nose and throat Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Hernia and appendix Joint reconstructions Kidney and bladder Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Skin Tonsils adenoids and grommets
It's the only health insurer on the market that lets you earn Qantas Points.
You earn 1 Qantas Point for every $1 you spend on premiums and, in many cases, earn points when you sign up.
Qantas's underwriter is nib, which covers 91.7% of hospital services with no gap costs (out-of-pocket expenses). That makes it the fourth highest out of 22 other major Australian funds. Medibank and HCF cover 83.8% and 86.7%, respectively.
We've selected Qantas as our top pick for bonus points because it's the only policy on the market that lets you earn Qantas Points. Unlike our other top picks, we haven't selected a specific Qantas product. This is because points are available with every policy and the best-value option comes down to your individual needs.
If you want more for your money, AIA could be a good health insurer for you. You get access to AIA Vitality, money off gym memberships, cashback on Virgin flights, money off gift cards and more. The Bronze Plus policy is particularly good value. It costs around $24 per week, $3 more than the cheapest bronze option, and covers 23 hospital services (5 more than is required for a bronze policy).
You get access to AIA Vitality.
It's competitively priced.
AIA received fewer complaints than other funds offering AIA Vitality, such as GMHBA (1.3% vs 1.9%).
It's not as beneficial if you aren't interested in AIA Vitality.
Customers don't tend to stay around for long. AIA has the lowest member retention rate (76.1%) of all major health funds.
84.3% of AIA hospital services have no gap which is worse than many other funds including Bupa (91.1%), HBF (92.5%) and nib (91.7%).
We picked AIA Health Insurance because it gives you access to AIA Vitality with all of its policies. Our insurance experts feel AIA is worth calling out because you can't get access to the same quality of health benefits with any other fund. However, everyone's needs are different so it's worth doing some research yourself.
With GMHBA you can only get access to AIA Vitality with some policies. We selected the Bronze Plus option because it only costs marginally more than the cheapest bronze policies available and it covers 5 more treatments than a standard bronze hospital policy. AIA also received a lower percentage of complaints compared to GMHBA.
You can also get AIA Vitality with CommBank. However, you need to be a CommBank customer, so we excluded it from eligibility.
Average prices are updated monthly when we update Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income, $750 excess and living in Sydney.
Hospital Treatments
Blood Bone joint and muscle Brain and nervous system Breast surgery Cancer Dental surgery Diabetes management Digestive system Ear nose and throat Eye excluding cataracts Gastrointestinal endoscopy Gynaecology Hernia and appendix Joint reconstructions Kidney and bladder Lung and chest Male reproductive system Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy Pain management Medically necessary plastic surgery Podiatric surgery Skin Tonsils adenoids and grommets
Extras Treatments
Extra treatments not covered
Best health insurance companies based on Ombudsman data
We've also ranked the top-performing health insurance companies in Australia. To do this, we used data from the latest ombudsman State of the Health Funds report and merged it to develop our score rating for each company.
To get an overall score, we looked at the percentage of benefits covered, hospital expenses and extras services covered, no gap services, complaints made and more.
Fund name
Our score
MDHF
100/100
HBF
96/100
Onemedifund
91/100
Peoplecare
86/100
St Lukes
82/100
Medibank
77/100
Health Partners
73/100
CBHS Corporate
68/100
BUPA
64/100
Phoenix
59/100
The rankings are based on the following metrics. Each metric holds weightings based on their effectiveness in accurately presenting the best provider:
Member retention - this indicator is used as one measure of the level of member satisfaction and the comparative effectiveness of health insurers: 10% weighting
Market share - the percent of total sales in an industry: 5% weighting
Benefits as % of contributions - this column presents the total contributions received by the insurer and then returned to contributors in benefits: 20% weighting
Hospital related charges covered - this percentage is calculated as: (Hospital benefits paid by insurer/Fees excluding Medicare benefit): 20% weighting
Medical services with no gap - this is the proportion of services where after accounting for insurer agreements, benefits and schemes, gap is not payable by the patient: 10% weighting
General treatment (extras) covered - this column refers to the average portion of service charges covered by each insurer: 20% weighting
Complaints ratio - this is the complaints to response ratio (the higher score is the better): 5% weighting
Percentage of services with no gap or where known gap payment made - on the understanding that the provider advises the patient of costs upfront, known gap schemes are an arrangement where the insurer pays an additional benefit: 10% weighting
Below are the results of the Finder 2023 health insurance Customer Satisfaction awards. These tell us which health funds Aussies think is the greatest for customer services and overall experience. We got responses from over 1000 Australians to get these results. Funds without a score didn't get enough reviews for us to be confident of the results.
Hospital only insurance can be good if you want cover in a private hospital. Private surgery waiting times are shorter and there are tax benefits if you earn $97,000+ a year.
Extras only
Extras cover can be worth it if you use lots of out-of-hospital services like dental. However, it does not save you from the Medicare levy surcharge (MLS) or Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading.
Combined
Combined cover includes hospital and extras. It can be good if you want total coverage for you and your family.
Pro tip: You'll need to serve a waiting period before you can claim. If you're switching funds, you can skip hospital waiting periods you've already served. Some extras policies let you skip waiting periods on things like dental, even for brand new policies.
Frequently asked questions
Private health cover is a type of insurance available in Australia as an alternative to Medicare, which is Australia's public health care system. Even though all Australian citizens and permanent residents are eligible for Medicare, private health insurance will cover you for care in the private hospital system. This has a few benefits, including shorter waiting times for surgery, a private room, and the ability to choose your own surgeon in many cases. Private health insurance comes in 2 flavours in Australia, extras cover and hospital cover.
Not everyone needs private health insurance, but it has a lot of benefits that might make sense to you. If you're eligible for Medicare, then you'll always have access to emergency and medically necessary treatment for free in a public hospital. However, private health insurance gives you access to benefits including your choice of doctor, your own room, better amenities and shorter wait times for elective surgery. There's also extras and ambulance cover to think about, which can be worth it even if you're young and healthy. Find out if private health insurance might be worth it for you with this 1-minute quiz.
Medicare is Australia's public healthcare system, which entitles citizens and permanent residents access to life-saving care for free in a public hospital. Unfortunately, Medicare isn't perfect! for hospital care, there can be long waiting periods for elective surgery, you probably won't get to choose your own doctor, and you may have to share a hospital room. With private hospital cover, you can get these benefits in a private hospital. Additionally, Medicare doesn't cover many out of hospital services, such as dental, optical and ambulance. Private health insurance has options to cover these as well. Learn more about Medicare vs private health insurance.
The best hospital cover is the one that suits your needs and circumstances, so it may be different for everyone. However, the 2023 Finder Health Insurance Awards awarded HCF the award for best silver and bronze cover, winning 2 of the 4 total hospital categories. So HCF hospital cover might be a good place to start comparing.
The best health insurance fund depends on what you're looking for. For some, that could be a not-for-profit and for others it could be the most popular health insurer. It might help you to know that HBF was awarded Finder's Best Health Fund award for 2023.
Since every family has different health needs, the easiest way to find a policy is to compare family options using our health insurance engine. For example, depending on your circumstances, you may want to get pregnancy cover if you plan to have kids or look for a policy that covers your teenager for free.
Most visitors and temporary workers aren't eligible for the same health insurance policies as Australians. Instead, you will need overseas visitor health cover (OVHC). This is a type of health insurance designed specifically for non-Australian residents. These policies start from around $64.50 a month and at the very least should cover hospital care and repatriation. Some can also help pay for doctor's appointments, prescription medicine and out-of-hospital treatment such as dental.
There are lots of ways to get cheaper health insurance including paying annually, joining a restricted fund if you're eligible and mixing and matching your hospital and extras cover because it often costs less to get a policy with 2 different funds.
No gap in Australian health insurance means you won't pay any extra fees on top of your regular premiums for specific services. Your insurer covers the full cost beyond what Medicare pays for things like surgery or certain treatments. Just remember, it only applies to specific services and policies can vary, so always check the details with your provider to avoid any surprises.
Get affordable cover for ambulance transport if you are not already covered under Medicare. Compare quotes from Australian funds to decide which level of protection is best for you.
Learn how to get cheap health insurance and what you can expect for your money.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand by our editorial principles.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
