Keeping children healthy is expensive - you know that. Private health insurance might be able to help
You can add your newborn to your existing hospital cover.
The process is slightly different depending on which policy you are currently on.
Adding a baby to Medicare
Health insurance is great, but if you haven't adding your baby to Medicare, get that sorted first. Medicare is Australia's public health system and will cover most of their health needs, as well as add them to the immunisation register, and a bunch or other helpful stuff.
You can register your baby for Medicare by filling in the Newborn Child Declaration, which you'll get from your midwife when you give birth. Make sure your midwife or doctor signs it, then submit it through MyGov.
Adding a newborn to your existing health insurance policy
Good news! It's pretty easy to add a baby to your current private hospital policy. You just need to call your health insurer and they'll sort out the details. What's also nice is any waiting periods you've served on your policy will automatically transfer to bub, so long as you register them quickly enough.
There are some important details to know though. How much your premiums will change, as well as how soon you want to register your baby, change depending on your current coverage type. Each option is broken down below.
1. Single health insurance policies:
If you're on a singles health policy, you'll need to upgrade to a single parent policy. This will have higher premiums than your old policy, but it won't be quite as expensive as a family policy would. You typically have just 2 months after birth to change your policy for them to be covered without waiting periods. Sometimes you have even less time - Bupa, for example, only gives you 90 days. Check with your fund.
2. Couples health insurance policies:
If you and your partner are covered by a couples policy, then you'll need to upgrade to a family policy. This will be slightly more expensive than your current policy, but probably not by a huge amount. You'll need to do this within a month of 2 of your baby's birth to have them covered without waiting periods. The exact deadline changes by fund.
3. Family and single parent health insurance policies:
If you're already on a family health cover or single parent health cover, then all you need to do is to register your baby on your policy. Your premiums should be largely unaffected. Just get in contact with your health fund within 12 months of your baby's birth in order to have your served waiting periods applied to them as well. This deadline changes between brands - Bupa, for example, allows you to add child dependents at any time and still avoid waiting periods.
Why compare health insurance with Finder?
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*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
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Comparing quotes from 30+ funds...
Finder survey: What are the main reasons of different ages Australians have hospital insurance?
Response
75+ yrs
65-74 yrs
55-64 yrs
45-54 yrs
35-44 yrs
25-34 yrs
18-24 yrs
To get better health care for my family
6.82%
5.23%
6.21%
11.24%
13.51%
13.68%
7.06%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
How long can children be covered under my policy?
How long your children can stay on your health insurance policy is up to your health fund. Generally a 'child dependent' can be covered until they're around 20 years old. If your child is a student, or classes as an 'adult dependent' they can sometimes stay on your policy until they are 31 years old, if your fund allows it. Read more about health insurance dependent ages by fund here.
What does private health insurance cover for kids?
Adding your baby to your private hospital insurance policy is generally a good move. If shouldn't increase your premiums by too much, but your baby will be covered as an inpatient at private hospitals in Australia. If you have an extras policy, your baby may also be able to benefit from it too, although more likely when they get a little older. Some extras treatments can be partially covered for children by specific government schemes though - make sure you check what's available in your state.
Why you can trust Finder's health insurance experts
You pay nothing. Finder is free to use. And you pay the same as going direct. No markups, no hidden fees.
You save time. We spend 100s of hours researching health insurance so you can sort the gold from the junk faster.
You can trust us. We say it like it is. We aren't owned by an insurer and our opinions are our own.
Frequently asked questions
No, you can't add your baby to your policy until they are born. Once they're born, you can then register their details with your health insurance fund, and upgrade your policy if required. Make sure you do this within the maximum time period allowed to transfer your waiting periods though: 12 months for family and single parent policies, but just 2 months for single and couples policies.
Adding a baby to your policy may increase your premiums, depending on what kind of policy you're currently on. Premiums for family and single parent policies shouldn't change by much with another child added. If you're on a single or couples policy though, you may need to upgrade your cover to a single parent or family policy, which will be more expensive.
Yes, if your partner has a separate health insurance policy to you, then you can add your baby to their policy. Sometimes it will be cheaper for one parent to be on a single parent policy that covers the children, while the other partner has their own singles policy. This is especially useful if one of the couple doesn't need as comprehensive a policy as the other. The most common example would be if one person doesn't need cover for pregnancy and childbirth, but the other one does.
If you don't have health insurance when your baby is born, you'll need to use Australia's public healthcare system, Medicare, for both you and your baby's healthcare needs. Australia does have one of the better public healthcare systems across the world, so this isn't the end of the world. Learn more about private vs public healthcare here.
If you miss the 2 or 12 month deadline to add your newborn to your health insurance, don't fret. You can still add your baby to your cover, but they'll need to serve their own waiting periods.
Private health insurance for kids only is pretty rare in Australia. Most stand-alone policies only allow membership to people 16 years and older. More often, kids are covered by their parent or legal guardian's policy.
Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance & utilities 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. See full bio
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Tim has written 116 Finder guides across topics including:
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You pay nothing. Finder is free to use. And you pay the same as going direct. No markups, no hidden fees.
You save time. We spend 100s of hours researching health insurance so you can sort the gold from the junk faster.
You can trust us. We say it like it is. We aren't owned by an insurer and our opinions are our own.
