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Bronze health insurance
Bronze tier hospital insurance includes coverage for 18 types of private hospital treatments from around
$23
a week*. It's more comprehensive than basic policies, but less than silver and gold.
Top pick: Winner: Best Bronze Cover
HCF
Winner: Best Bronze Cover 2023
HCF's Hospital Bronze Plus covers 26 treatment categories
Top pick: Highly Commended
HBF Health Limited
Highly Commended: Best Bronze Cover 2023
HBF's Bronze Hospital Plus covers 26 treatment categories
Top pick: Highly Commended
Medibank Private Limited
Highly Commended: Best Bronze Cover 2023
Medibank's Bronze Plus Progress covers 26 treatment categories
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What you need to know:
Bronze hospital insurance helps cover 18 different treatment categories in the private hospital system.
The cheapest bronze policies start from around
$23
a week*.
Bronze hospital cover includes treatments like joint reconstructions, gynaecology, and ear, nose and throat.
*Prices are based on a single person living in Sydney earning less than $90,000 per year.
Pros and cons of Bronze health insurance
Pros
Covers a wide range of common hospital treatments at an affordable price
Includes cover for joint reconstructions, diabetes management, and miscarriage and termination of pregnancy
Lots of 'Bronze plus' policies exist that give you access to specific Silver treatments on top of standard Bronze coverage
Cons
Not as comprehensive as either Silver or Gold cover
Doesn't cover some important treatments like pregnancy and birth, joint replacements or hospital dental surgery
If you only need hospital insurance to avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge or Lifetime Health Care loading, you can save by opting for a Basic policy instead
Compare more Bronze health insurance policies
The following table shows insurers from Finder partners that offer Bronze health insurance policies. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
HCF's Hospital Bronze Plus policy is the 2023 Finder Award winner in our bronze category. It won based on value for money, meaning policies that covered more treatments in a private hospital for a lower premium scored higher. It scored higher than all eligible bronze hospital policies on the market.
HBF's Bronze Hospital Plus policy came in second place for our bronze category. The 2022 winner costs around $22 per week and covers 26 services including gastrointestinal endoscopy, bone, joint and muscle, and kidney and bladder.
Medibank's Bronze Plus Progress policy came in third place. It costs around $21 per week and covers a wide range of treatments including treatment for back, neck and spine.
What are the hospital health insurance tiers?
Each of the different health insurance tiers has to cover a standardised set of treatments. Here's a quick summary of each tier.
Gold hospital cover
Gold-tier hospital insurance covers all 38 treatments outlined by the Australian government. This includes treatments like joint replacements, pregnancy and insulin pumps, as well as all services covered by Silver-tier policies.
Average premium:
$219.04
a month for a single policy.*
Lowest premium:
$162.44
a month for a single policy.*
Silver hospital cover
Silver-tier hospital insurance covers at least 26 treatments outlined by the Australian government. This includes treatments like dental surgery, lung and chest, and podiatric surgery, as well as all services covered by Bronze-tier policies.
Average cost:
$147.89
a month for a single policy.*
Lowest premium:
$102.5
a month for a single policy.*
Bronze hospital cover
Bronze-tier hospital insurance covers at least 18 treatments outlined by the Australian government. This includes treatments like joint reconstructions, gynaecology, and ear, nose and throat, as well as all services covered by Basic-tier policies.
Average cost:
$98.84
a month for a single policy.
Lowest premium:
$86.34
a month for a single policy.*
Basic hospital cover
Basic-tier hospital insurance isn't required to fully cover any treatments outlined by the Australian government, but it does need to have restricted cover for rehabilitation, hospital psychiatric services and palliative care. Generally, Basic cover is primarily used to avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge and Lifetime Health Cover loading.
Average cost:
$84.13
a month for a single policy.*
Lowest premium:
$76.9
a month for a single policy.*
*Average prices are updated monthly, in line with Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
If a policy is described as a 'plus' policy, then it will cover the minimum number of treatments for its tier, plus at least 1 treatment from the next tier up. For a full list of the treatments covered by Basic policies, click the link below.
Clinical category
Basic
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Rehabilitation
R
R
R
Hospital psychiatric services
R
R
R
Palliative care
R
R
R
Brain and nervous system
Eye (not cataracts)
Ear, nose and throat
Tonsils, adenoids and grommets
Bone, joint and muscle
Joint reconstructions
Kidney and bladder
Male reproductive system
Digestive system
Hernia and appendix
Gastrointestinal endoscopy
Gynaecology
Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy for cancer
Pain management
Skin
Breast surgery (medically necessary)
Diabetes management (excluding insulin pumps)
Heart and vascular system
Lung and chest
Blood
Back, neck and spine
Plastic and reconstructive surgery (medically necessary)
Dental surgery
Podiatric surgery (provided by a registered podiatric surgeon)
If you're fit, healthy and don't plan on having children, a Bronze hospital policy may provide you with more than adequate cover for your needs at a pretty reasonable price. Bronze-tier policies include a range of treatments that will be useful for young people, including:
Joint reconstructions
Bone, joint and muscle
Digestive system
Male reproductive system
And to sweeten the deal, if you're aged between 18 and 25, insurers may offer a discount of up to 10% off your hospital premiums until you turn 40.
Women
Bronze hospital insurance covers a range of treatments that are particularly useful for women both young and old, including:
Breast and ovarian cancer treatment
Breast reconstruction
Gynaecological services
Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy
The only caveat is that if you're planning on having a child in the private system, you'll want to consider a Gold policy. Pregnancy and birth is only covered on Gold and some Silver plus policies.
Young families
Bronze-tier policies are available for singles, couples or as family policies, and are particularly well-suited for a young family. As long as you're not expecting to get pregnant soon, Bronze coverage covers a range of common treatments for young parents (see above) and young children, including:
Ear, nose and throat
Tonsils, adenoids and grommets
Bone, joint and muscle
High income earners
If you earn more than $90,000 per year, you'll be charged the Medicare Levy Surcharge. This is an additional income tax of up to 1.5%, and can easily get into the thousands of dollars, depending on how much you earn. While holding any hospital policy will exempt you from the MLS, a Bronze policy will cover you for a range of common hospital treatments at the same time.
Why you can trust Finder's health insurance experts
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In Australia, health insurance comes in 4 separate tiers: Basic, Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each tier covers more hospital treatments than the last, the list of which are set out by the government.
Bronze-tier policies cover a wide range of common hospital treatments, and are especially useful for younger people and children. Covered treatments include bone, joint and muscle work, joint reconstructions, gynaecology, cancer treatment and diabetes management.
'Plus' policies cover every standard treatment from their tier, plus at least 1 treatment that's only covered in a higher tier. An example of 'Bronze plus' cover would be a policy that covers all 18 Bronze treatments as well as hospital dental surgery, which is a Silver-tier treatment.
In Australia, any Bronze hospital policy will cover pre-existing treatments, so long as you've served a 12-month waiting period. This is a government mandated feature of all Australian health insurance, regardless of tier.
Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more.
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