Family Health Insurance

When you have a family, you naturally want to take care of their health with the best medical protection possible. Private health insurance is crucial in allowing you to do just that, because:

• you can choose your hospital and doctor for treatment
• with the right plan, you can have your choice of private hospitals and even get your own private hospital room
• your health fund takes care of your hospital costs (including accommodation, theatre costs and doctors fees)
• you'll generally have a shorter wait and greater freedom to choose your timing for surgery

You can also benefit from health insurance by choosing Extras options that suit your family, like dental, optical, chiropractic and physiotherapy. As your family expands, so do the pairs of eyes that need to be checked, the sets of teeth that need straightening, and the number of bodies whose general health needs the best care available.

Avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge

The Medicare Levy Surcharge is an extra 1% tax imposed on people who do not have hospital cover and earn above the set income threshold. Currently for families, this threshold is $153,000 combined (for the 2010-2011 financial year), so if you're earning over $153,000 together, taking out private health insurance is an easy way to save on tax and get private health cover for your peace of mind. Read more about the Medicare Levy Surcharge.

Save on health insurance premiums with the Government Rebate

All Australians eligible for Medicare who take our health insurance with a registered health fund (all moneytime's partner health funds are registered) are eligible for a rebate on the cost of their health insurance by the Federal Government. The level of rebate depends on the age of the oldest person covered by the health insurance policy:

30% rebate for people aged up to 65

35% rebate for those aged between 65-69

40% rebate for those aged 60 years old and up

Read more about the Government rebate and find out about the proposed changes to the rebate levels.

Lifetime Health Cover

Lifetime Health Cover is a Government initiative designed to encourage people to take out private hospital cover earlier in life, and maintain their cover throughout their lifetime. By taking out hospital cover by 1 July following your 31st birthday, you can lock in the lowest base health insurance premium for life, as long as you keep continuous hospital cover. For those who don't have health insurance by that cut off date, a 2% loading is added to the base health insurance premium for each year above the age of 30 that they are without hospital cover. The Lifetime Health Cover loading applies to hospital cover only, and does not affect the cost of your extras cover. Read more about Lifetime Health Cover.

Selecting the best health insurance policy

The 'best' health insurance policy is the one that's right for you, suited to your lifestyle, budget, and the needs of your family. To begin with, it's a good idea to understand the different options available with private health insurance – read our introduction to private health insurance to see what you need to know before choosing health insurance.

Some basic questions to ask yourself include:

• Do I want basic hospital (public hospital or lower level private hospital) or higher level private hospital cover?
• Should I get hospital cover, extras cover or both?
• What features would be used most frequently by my family members?
• What 'just in case' features should I consider?
• Should I choose an Excess or Co-payment option to reduce my premium?

Save on health insurance

Everyone with a family knows that a dollar saved is a dollar earned. Here are some tips to save on health insurance for families:

• Compare private health insurance quotes from different health funds to get the best deal. Rather than doing the legwork yourself, use moneytime, because the research has been done for you.
• Pay a year's health insurance premium in advance at the beginning of the year to lock in the previous year's rate before the annual rate rise. The annual rate rise occurs around March/April each year, when the health funds increase their health insurance premiums with the approval of the Health Minister to cover the cost of rising medical inflation. In previous years, the rate rise has generally been around 5% of the previous year's health insurance premium.
• Pay by direct debit – a number of funds offer up to 5% discount on the cost of your health insurance when you choose to pay by direct debit.
• Before you go to hospital for a medical procedure, check first to see if you'll be liable for a gap payment (this is when the specialist charges a higher fee than the Medical Benefits Schedule). If your doctor has an agreement with your health fund, you can often avoid the gap, so it pays to check in advance.
• Get a health insurance plan that covers you for the things you need. You can recoup the cost of your health insurance premium if you use the full benefits you're entitled to. Know the maximum benefits for features like dental, optical, physio, etc under your plan, and use them to improve your family's health and wellbeing.

Read our tips to save on health insurance for more on how you can get the best deal on health cover for you and your family.

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Choosing health insurance for the family

Firstly choose a health insurance policy that meets the needs of your family and know what you're paying for – for example, there's no point paying for an obstetrics feature if you've been sterilised and aren't planning any more kids. Choose health cover that suits your needs so you're not paying for things you don't need.

But do keep in mind there are some important health insurance features that you may not be certain you need immediately, but may come in handy down the track. Covering them now will provide protection for when you do need them, especially because a lot of important features come with waiting periods. 

Useful health insurance features for families with kids:

General Dental – Regular visits to the dentist are an important way to help keep your kids' teeth and gums healthy. The General Dental feature in Extras cover ensures your kids are covered for regular check ups, x-rays, fillings and preventative procedures.

Optical – Eye tests from most optometrists are covered by Medicare in Australia, but private health insurance covers glasses (frames and lenses) and contact lenses, to correct eyesight and help your kids excel.

Orthodontic – Orthodontic benefits cover treatment to straighten and correct teeth and jaw alignment problems with devices such as braces and plates. Generally, problems can be diagnosed by age nine and treated by early teens. The earlier these issues are corrected the better, because growing teeth and jaws are still malleable and more easily corrected.

Physiotherapy – Children with neurological, developmental and respiratory disorders often require physiotherapy to help with joint movement, keep muscles working for normal movement and prevent or reduce scarring.

Podiatry – As children learn to walk, you may notice some abnormalities about their feet or gait that cause you concern. If your child has abnormally shaped toes, stiffness, limping, severe in-toeing (pigeon toed) or out-toeing, flat feet beyond the age of five or isn't walking at all by the age of two, podiatry may be useful to help them improve their condition and learn to walk properly.

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 See a case study of a family that saved over $1,725 a year by using moneytime.

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