Your Health

Private health insurance

Medicare provides universal health insurance for all Australians, but many people want a higher level of health cover with more options for how and where their health care is delivered. For example, they may want to have an operation performed in a specific hospital, or choose their own doctor. Private Health insurance gives you more choice in the kind of care you receive, and insures you against additional costs of being a private patient.

There are many different private health insurance companies in Australia, and it can be difficult to know which policy is right for you. PrivateHealth.gov.au is a new government website that helps you find out about private health insurance policies available in Australia. The site contains a wealth of information, explaining some of the terms you're likely to come across when planning for private health cover, such as excesses, exclusions, gaps, and Lifetime Health Cover.

Using PrivateHealth.gov.au, you can:

• view a searchable database of policies to help you review your current policy or choose a new one that suits you,
• print out one-page statements outlining key features of health policies you are interested in,
• look at a list of insurers to see which policies they offer, and
• check to see if your local private hospital is covered by your insurer.