See whether a Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) loading would apply to your private hospital cover — and how much it adds.
Lifetime Health Cover (LHC) is an Australian Government initiative that encourages people to take out private hospital cover earlier in life and keep it.
If you take out hospital cover on or before 1 July following your 31st birthday (your LHC base day), you pay the base premium with no loading. If you take it out later, a loading is added on top of your premium.
The loading only applies to hospital cover — not to extras (general treatment) cover.
The loading is 2% for every year you are aged over 30 when you first take out hospital cover.
For example: first taking out cover at age 40 gives a 20% loading; at age 50 a 40% loading; at age 60 a 60% loading.
The loading is capped at 70%, which is reached at age 65. So the loading can never be more than 70% of your premium.
Once you have held hospital cover and paid the loading for 10 continuous years, the loading is removed and you return to the base premium — as long as you keep your hospital cover.
If you drop your hospital cover, you may need to serve the loading again when you re-join. You are allowed limited breaks in cover (for example up to 1094 days in total) without restarting, but checking the rules before cancelling is wise.
No. Since 1 July 2013, the Australian Government private health insurance rebate does not apply to the LHC loading portion of your premium. The rebate still applies to the base premium.
The LHC loading is separate from the Medicare Levy Surcharge, which is a tax on higher earners without hospital cover. You can be affected by both, one, or neither.
Some insurers offer an age-based discount of up to 10% on hospital cover premiums for people who take out cover between ages 18 and 25. It's smaller for people who join at 26–29 (26=8%, 27=6%, 28=4%, 29=2%) and not available from age 30.
Once you have it, the discount stays until you turn 41, then reduces by 2% a year until it reaches zero. It's optional for each fund to offer — check with your insurer. Learn more →
If you are a new migrant who registers for Medicare after your 31st birthday, you generally have 12 months from your Medicare registration date to take out hospital cover without a loading.
Other special rules apply to people born on or before 1 July 1934 and to some Australian Defence Force members. The official source below covers these cases.