Single parents' health insurance

For any parent, medical care is an important issue because you naturally want the best health protection possible for your children. For single parents, there's never been a better time to take out or review private health insurance for your family. Since the 2007 changes to private health insurance regulations, single parents now pay less than couples with children. That could save you up to 25% with some of moneytime's partner health funds.

If this is the first time you've had to consider health cover for yourself and your children, we recommend that you read moneytime's introduction to private health insurance to understand how private health insurance works in Australia. Also read our tips to save on health insurance.

Advantages for single parents

In previous years, single parents paid the same family premium for private health insurance as couples with children. However, in 2007, changes were made to risk equalisation arrangements, allowing health funds to recognise one less adult per single parent policy. This means single parent families are now able to save more on their private health insurance premium – the value of the savings will depend on the health fund that you choose.

If you're a single parent and you've never had private health insurance before, then there's no better time to get started. Or if you've got health insurance but have been paying full family rates, then now's the time to review and compare private health insurance to find the deal that's best for your family.

With private health insurance, you can enjoy peace of mind because if anyone in your family is admitted to hospital:

• 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' and specialists' fees)
• you'll generally have a shorter wait and greater freedom to choose your timing for surgery

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 single parents, this threshold is $153,000 (for the 2010-2011 financial year), so if you're earning over $153,000, taking our 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 health insurance rebate and the proposed changes to the rebate.

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.

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Tips on choosing private health insurance for single-parent families

The most important thing is to choose a policy that suits the needs of your family, because there's no point paying for things you won't need - for example, having cover for pregnancy and birth-related services when you're not planning any more kids for the time being.

moneytime, the private health insurance comparison engine, allows you to select the features you want fully covered in your policy. You can then compare health insurance policies that suit your needs from a large range of leading Australian health funds and join online – all absolutely free of charge.

When choosing private health insurance features, pick the ones that you and your kids are most likely to benefit from, such as:

General Dental - Ensures your kids are covered for regular check ups, x-rays, fillings and preventative procedures to keep their teeth and gums healthy for the long term.

Optical - Covers glasses (frames and lenses) and contact lenses, to correct eyesight and help your kids excel. This is not covered by Medicare, which only pays for eye tests.

Orthodontic - Covers 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.

You know best which features are most necessary for your family – from dental to remedial massage and podiatry – so start comparing your health insurance options today and see which policy is the best for your family.

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Ways to save on health insurance

With one income for your family, you know well the value of a dollar saved. Here are some tips for saving on private health cover while taking advantage of all the benefits private health insurance allows you:

• 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 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 rising medical costs. 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 health 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 more tips to save on health insurance.

Currently, single parent families are under-represented in the private health care system, with only 20% covered by private health insurance. There's never been a better time for a single parent to get health cover in Australia – start comparing private health insurance now to find the best deal for you and your family.

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