Why should I keep private hospital cover?
There are plenty of reasons private hospital cover is important, including:
- Peace of mind knowing you can have access to private hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities
- being in control of your health, by selecting the Doctor or Specialist of your choice
- getting treated when you need to in a private hospital, instead of having to spend months (even years) on a public hospital waiting list
- if you earn over the threshold for Medicare Levy Surcharge (currently $97,000 for singles and $194,000 for families), you may have to pay the Medicare Levy Surcharge if you don’t hold hospital cover.
- not being penalised with a Lifetime Health Cover loading (a Government imposed initiative for all Australians who don’t take out private hospital cover before turning 31)
When you think about health insurance it’s important to think about more than just the cost – it’s about giving you control of your healthcare, with your choice of Doctor and hospital, less time waiting for the services you need and (most importantly) the peace of mind to know that you’ll be looked after when you and your family need it most.
You might be surprised by how much it costs to pay for a private hospital procedure without private hospital insurance. To give you an idea, these are the highest hospital costs for individual Peoplecare members we paid in the 2024 financial year:
| Hospital claims paid in the 2024 financial year | |
|---|---|
| Admission reason | Total benefit paid |
| Digestive system | $334,547 |
| Digestive system | $146,351 |
| Heart and vascular system | $101,344 |
| Hospital psychiatric services | $101,238 |
| Skin | $99,961 |