Is your health cover still the right one?
Premiums rise every year, usually on 1 April, and the cover you bought years ago may not be what you need now. There is a government comparison site with every policy on it.
Every policy
on the market is listed on the government's own site, run by the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman
What this is
Private health premiums usually rise on 1 April, and cover bought years ago often no longer matches what a household needs. PrivateHealth.gov.au is the Australian Government's own comparison site, run by the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman, and it lists every insurer and every policy rather than only those paying a commission. Switching to equivalent cover carries over waiting periods you have already served.
Does it apply to you?
- Anyone who has held the same policy for more than a year or two
- Anyone whose household has changed: a birth, a separation, children leaving home
- Anyone paying for extras they have not used
How to do it
- Get your current policy's name and what it covers from your last statement.
- Compare it on PrivateHealth.gov.au, which lists every insurer, not only the ones that pay a commission.
- Check the excess and the exclusions, not only the premium.
- If you switch to equivalent cover, waiting periods you have already served are carried over.
Where people lose the money
Comparing on a commercial site.
Those show the funds that pay them. The government site lists all of them.
Comparing premiums alone.
Excess, exclusions and restrictions decide what you pay when you actually claim.
Cancelling before the new policy starts.
Transfer rather than cancel, so served waiting periods carry across.
Questions
Do I lose my waiting periods if I switch?
Not for equivalent cover. Waiting periods you have already served are carried over. Moving to a higher level of cover can bring new waiting periods on the extra benefits.
Who runs PrivateHealth.gov.au?
It is the Australian Government's private health insurance site, operated by the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.
Do you recommend a fund?
No. We do not list, rank or recommend insurers. We point at the government comparison site because it shows all of them.
Where these numbers come from
- PrivateHealth.gov.au, the Australian Government’s private health insurance site, run by the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman · read 2026-09-22
Last gone over 2026-09-22. Figures change; the link above is always the current one.