How much does private health insurance cost in Australia?

How much does private health insurance cost in Australia in 2026–27?

Private health insurance in Australia costs what each policy’s statement says, and there is no official average to quote in its place. As at 8 October 2026, PrivateHealth.gov.au publishes prices policy by policy, not as an average. APRA’s Quarterly Private Health Insurance Statistics, June 2026 edition, released 27 August 2026, carries its premium data only in spreadsheet and dashboard files that this page could not read. So every price below comes from a real Private Health Information Statement (PHIS), with the date it was issued.

On those statements, one person in NSW and the ACT pays A$116.76 to A$421.18 a month for hospital cover with a A$750 excess from 1 April 2026, before the Australian Government Rebate, depending on the tier. Entry-level extras cover for one person ran from A$21.25 to A$29.75 a month in four examples.

What the premiums buy back is published. APRA reports that insurers paid A$1,553.48 in hospital benefits per person covered in the year to 30 June 2026, against A$1,521.79 in the year to June 2025, and A$512.06 in extras benefits per person, up from A$493.72. At 30 June 2026, 12,823,752 Australians, or 45.8% of the population, held hospital cover.

This is general information, not personal advice, and it does not take your income or health into account. Whether to hold cover at all is a separate question, covered in do I need private health insurance.

How hospital, extras and ambulance cover fit together, and how the rebate, surcharge and loading change the bill, is set out in private health insurance explained.

What does hospital cover cost at each tier?

Hospital cover in Australia is sold in four government tiers, Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold, and a Plus policy adds clinical categories above its tier’s minimum. Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic compared sets out what each tier must cover. Price follows the tier. The table shows six open hospital policies for one person in NSW and the ACT, listed by insurer in alphabetical order and then by tier. They are examples, not a ranking and not a scan of the whole market.

Monthly premiums from each insurer’s PHIS on PrivateHealth.gov.au, issued 1 April 2026 (Bupa’s updated 8 July 2026), opened 8 October 2026. Yearly figures and the rebate are a Plain Cover calculation: monthly times 12, then the ATO’s 24.118% for a single under 65 earning A$105,000 or less in 2026–27. Last verified 8 October 2026.

Within one insurer the steps are steep. HBF’s Gold policy costs 3.6 times its Basic Plus policy, A$3,653.04 a year more before the rebate. The two Bronze Plus policies from different insurers sit A$3.16 a month apart but cover different things: HBF’s statement lists 28 clinical categories and Peoplecare’s 26, against the Bronze minimum of 21. Price alone does not show what is covered. All six carry an excess of A$750 or less, the most a single’s hospital policy can carry and still remove the Medicare Levy Surcharge in 2026–27, a test worked through in Basic cover and the surcharge.

What do singles, couples and families pay for the same policy?

Couple and family policies in Australia are priced by each insurer, not as a fixed multiple of a single policy. One open policy shows the pattern: HBF’s Gold Hospital Elevate with a A$750 excess, in NSW and the ACT, all three statements issued 1 April 2026.

PrivateHealth.gov.au PHIS HBF/H22/NBRIO10, NBRIM20 and NBRIN2D, opened 8 October 2026. Yearly figures and ratios are a Plain Cover calculation. Last verified 8 October 2026.

Two things follow for this policy. The couple pays A$84.25 a month, or A$1,011.00 a year, less than two separate single policies would cost, a saving of about 10%. And the children add A$42.11 a month to the couple price. Other Australian insurers set their own couple and family prices, so the ratio belongs to this statement, not to the market.

The rebate on a family policy uses a family income test. For 2026–27 the ATO’s base tier for a family runs to A$210,000, against A$105,000 for a single, plus A$1,500 for each dependent child after the first. A family on the base tier with the oldest member under 65 gets 24.118% off this policy, which is A$2,315.96 a year, on a Plain Cover calculation.

How much is extras cover on its own?

Extras cover, which the law calls general treatment, pays toward dental, optical, physiotherapy and similar services outside hospital in Australia. It is priced well below hospital cover. It never removes the Medicare Levy Surcharge, and the Lifetime Health Cover loading applies only to hospital cover, so extras never carries one. Here are four entry-level extras policies for one person in NSW and the ACT, listed by insurer in alphabetical order.

PrivateHealth.gov.au PHIS, issued 1 April 2026 (Bupa’s issued 17 September 2026, Frank’s updated 23 July 2026), opened 8 October 2026. Yearly figures are monthly times 12, a Plain Cover calculation. Last verified 8 October 2026.

The rebate applies to extras as well. At the 24.118% base-tier rate for a single under 65 in 2026–27, the ahm policy costs A$193.50 a year and the Frank policy A$270.90.

Across all Australians with extras cover, APRA’s June 2026 edition reports general treatment benefits of A$512.06 per person covered in the year to 30 June 2026, and an average out-of-pocket cost of A$64.05 per general treatment service in the June 2026 quarter. PrivateHealth.gov.au notes that nearly all services under general treatment are only covered to a limited extent. Combined hospital and extras policies carry their own statements and are not priced here.

How much did premiums rise on 1 April 2026?

Australian private health insurance premiums rose by an average of 4.41% on 1 April 2026, after an average of 3.73% on 1 April 2025, according to the Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing. The Department’s circular PHI 11/26 records the announcement as made on 17 February 2026. The release puts the rise down to the cost of medical and hospital services, which rose 5% in the previous financial year, and gives an average of 3.52% a year under the current government against 4.26% under the former one.

The 4.41% is an industry average. Each insurer’s own change differs, and the Department publishes those separately. This is what each average is worth at the 2026–27 premiums above.

Plain Cover calculation on the PHIS premiums above. It shows what each average percentage is worth at that price, not what any one policy actually rose by. Last verified 8 October 2026.

The process is set in law. APRA explains, in a note dated 16 February 2026, that insurers cannot change premiums without the Minister’s approval under section 66 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007, that applications typically go to the Department in November for changes from 1 April, and that APRA advises but does not approve. The Minister’s release also reports that insurers paid more than A$26.7 billion in benefits in the 12 months to 30 September 2025, and that the rebate will provide A$7.9 billion this year.

Each insurer’s own 2026 and 2025 averages are listed in health insurance premium increases by fund, and what to do when you get your premium increase letter explains how to read the notice.

What changes the price of the same cover?

Private health insurance in Australia is community rated. PrivateHealth.gov.au states that insurers must charge everyone the same premium for the same level of cover, so health and claims history do not move the price. Five other things do.

The state or territory. Insurers price each one separately. HBF’s Gold Hospital Elevate family policy with a A$750 excess was issued on 1 April 2026 at these prices.

PrivateHealth.gov.au PHIS, HBF/H22, opened 8 October 2026. No Tasmanian statement for this policy was found. Last verified 8 October 2026.

The excess. PrivateHealth.gov.au describes an excess as the amount paid for a hospital stay before the insurer’s benefits are payable. A higher excess lowers the premium, and one real pair is priced further down this page.

Age when joining. An insurer may give people who join aged 18 to 29 an age-based discount on hospital premiums: 2% for each year under 30, up to 10% for 18 to 25 year olds, reduced by 2% a year from age 41. Insurers do not have to offer it. On HBF Bronze Hospital Plus at A$1,726.44 a year:

PrivateHealth.gov.au age-based discount rules, checked 8 October 2026. Dollar amounts are a Plain Cover calculation. Last verified 8 October 2026.

Lifetime Health Cover loading. Taking out hospital cover after the 1 July following your 31st birthday adds 2% for each year over 30, up to 70%, until 10 years of continuous cover, as the Lifetime Health Cover loading guide explains.

Income and age, through the rebate. The rebate depends on income tier and the age of the oldest person on the policy, set out in the rebate tiers guide.

Why the price you are quoted is rarely the price you pay

Most people in Australia see a premium on a quote or an insurer’s website and budget on it. Three things move the real figure, and each goes wrong in a predictable way.

First, a PHIS price is before the rebate, and many quotes are shown after it at the base tier. A single earning more than A$105,000 in 2026–27 is not on the base tier. On HBF Silver Hospital Plus at A$3,061.32 a year, the rebate is worth:

ATO rebate rates and 2026–27 thresholds, page updated 22 June 2026, checked 8 October 2026. Rebate amounts are a Plain Cover calculation; at the earlier base rate the rebate on this premium was A$743.53, A$5.20 more. Last verified 8 October 2026.

Second, PrivateHealth.gov.au states that the rebate does not apply to the Lifetime Health Cover part of a premium, so any loading is paid in full.

Third, a rebate taken as a lower premium rests on the income tier the policyholder nominates, and a quote cannot know which tier applies. PrivateHealth.gov.au says claiming less than the income allows is made up as a tax offset at lodgement, and claiming too much can leave tax to pay. The tiers also move each 1 July. In 2025–26 the single thresholds were A$101,000, A$118,000 and A$158,000, so a single on A$120,000 was in tier 2 last year and is in tier 1 in 2026–27.

Worked example: what a 40-year-old in Sydney pays for Bronze Plus

Mia lives in Sydney, is single and takes out HBF Bronze Hospital Plus with a A$750 excess in October 2026. The statement price is A$143.87 a month, or A$1,726.44 a year. She was 40 on 1 July 2026 and has never held hospital cover, so under the Lifetime Health Cover rules she carries a loading of 2% for each of her 10 years over 30, which is 20%. Her income for 2026–27 is A$118,000, which puts her in rebate tier 1 at 16.079% for an under-65.

• Base premium: A$1,726.44.
• Loading: 20% of A$1,726.44 = A$345.29.
• Rebate: 16.079% of A$1,726.44 = A$277.59, never on the loading.
• Net cost: A$1,726.44 + A$345.29 − A$277.59 = A$1,794.14 a year, or about A$149.51 a month.

A quote showing the base-tier rebate and no loading would have read A$1,310.06 a year. Mia pays A$484.08 more than that figure, before any excess. She is too old for the age-based discount, which only people who joined aged 18 to 29 can hold, and her loading comes off after 10 years of continuous cover, in October 2036. With no hospital cover for the whole of 2026–27, the surcharge at her income would be 1% of A$118,000, or A$1,180, so cover costs her A$614.14 more than the surcharge this year. All figures are a Plain Cover calculation from the PHIS and the ATO and PrivateHealth.gov.au rules, checked 8 October 2026.

When does a lower premium cost more than it saves?

Two levers change the monthly price of Australian private health insurance, and the arithmetic on both is worth doing before picking one.

The excess. HBF’s Gold Hospital Elevate statements for one person in Queensland, issued 1 April 2026, price the A$750 excess version at A$449.17 a month and the A$500 version at A$476.89. Moving to the A$500 excess costs A$27.72 a month, or A$332.64 a year. Each excess is capped at once a year for a single on these statements, so the most the lower excess can ever save is A$250 a year. On these two statements the lower excess costs A$82.64 more than it can save in a year with an admission, and A$332.64 more in a year without one.

Extras. An extras policy pays only up to its limits, and PrivateHealth.gov.au notes that nearly all general treatment services are covered only in part. The ahm policy above costs A$255.00 a year before the rebate against a A$400 yearly dental limit. A person who sees a dentist once a year for a check-up can pay more in premiums than the policy pays back.

None of this is personal advice. People weighing a change typically read the PHIS for both versions line by line and check the waiting periods that apply to any upgrade, which are set out in the waiting periods guide. To see current prices for your own age and state, compare health insurance.