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Gold health insurance

Gold hospital insurance is the most comprehensive hospital cover that money can buy. It's available from around $57 a week*.

What you need to know:

  • Gold tier hospital policies are the most comprehensive hospital insurance policies available in Australia.
  • The cheapest gold hospital policies start from around $57 a week*.
  • Gold hospital insurance covers hospital treatments including childbirth, cataracts and joint replacements.

*Prices are based on a single person living in Sydney earning less than $90,000 per year.

Pros and cons of Gold health insurance

Pros

  • Comprehensive cover for treatment in a private hospital.
  • The only tier to include coverage for pregnancy and childbirth.
  • Covers rehabilitation, hospital psychiatric services and palliative care.

Cons

  • Gold cover is expensive, often costing well in excess of $160 per month.
  • If you don't need cover for a service like pregnancy, a Gold policy will still charge and cover you for it. Gold cover is often more coverage than people need.
  • Doesn't cover outpatient services without additional extras cover.

Compare more Gold health insurance policies

The following table shows insurers from Finder partners that offer Gold health insurance policies.

1 - 7 of 7
Name Product Treatments Price Apply
Frank Gold Hospital
Gold$750 excess
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$226.63
per month
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$228.93
per month
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$237.33
per month
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$245.25
per month
advanced hospital gold
Gold$750 excess
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$249.32
per month
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$253.17
per month
advanced hospital gold
Gold$500 excess
  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements
  • Palliative care
  • Pregnancy and birth
  • Sleep studies
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Rehabilitation
  • Insulin pumps
  • +30 other treatments covered
$273.07
per month
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All prices are based on a single individual with less than $90,000 income and living in Sydney.

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  • With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.

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Best Health Insurance - Gold Hospital

We crunched the numbers on Gold hospital cover as part of our 2023 finder health insurance awards. Here are the winners and highly commended policies.

Highly commended

St. Lukes health insurance

St. Lukes Health - Gold Hospital

St. Lukes Health Gold hospital policy is the 2023 runner up in our gold category. It covers all 38 hospital treatments for less than almost every other health insurance policy on the market.

Medibank health insurance

Medibank Gold Complete Hospital

Medibank's Gold hospital complete is another highly commended brand in the 2023 gold hospital category. It covers all 38 hospital treatments and comes with several unique perks for families looking to get pregnant.

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 icon

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: $218.78 a month for a single policy.*
Lowest premium: $162.44 a month for a single policy.*
Silver hospital cover icon

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 icon

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 icon

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.

How much is Gold cover in each state?

The cost of gold tier hospital insurance varies by state, because the cost of care is different across Australia. The table below lays out the average and minimum monthly premiums in the Finder health insurance database.

Average monthly premiumLowest monthly premium
NSW $218.78 $162.44
QLD $231.78 $176.69
VIC $239.6 $173.09
TAS $211.86 $166.62
SA $200.69 $158
NT $137.48 $86.62
WA $187.05 $138.56

*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 with a $750 excess.

Who might need Gold cover?

family icon

People starting a family

If you're starting a family and want to have access to a private room during childbirth, you're going to want a Gold hospital policy. Benefits only available on Gold policies include:

Old man

Older Australians

Getting older means you're more susceptible to certain conditions – Gold coverage includes a range of treatments that are especially useful to older Australians. A few examples that are helpful for seniors include:

  • Cataracts
  • Joint replacements

surgeon icon

People with complex needs

There are many other treatments only covered under Gold-tier health insurance policies which may be essential for some people. Here are a few Gold treatments that could apply to you:

  • Dialysis for chronic kidney failure
  • Weight loss surgery
  • Insulin pumps
  • Pain management with device
  • Sleep studies

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Gold hospital cover: Frequently asked questions

James Martin
This article was reviewed on 30 June by . James is the insurance editor at Finder and he's written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years.

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