Kids health insurance
Kids health insurance can be added to your own policy, but it's tricky to find options if you're only wanting to insure them.
Key takeaways
- It is rare to find a health insurance policy that covers children only.
- The most common way to cover children on private health is within a family policy.
- Most family policies let you list young dependents at no extra cost.
Are there children-only health insurance policies?
It's rare to find a policy that offers health insurance for kids only. While you may be able to find a fund that is willing to cover just your kids, it may not be the best use of your money. Most family health insurance policies will provide cover for your children at no extra cost. Single parent health insurance is also an option if you don't have a partner.
One of the primary advantages of family hospital cover is the provision for zero excess for children. According to industry standards reflected by the Department of Health and Aged Care, many Australian insurers waive the hospital excess for dependent children. This means that if a child is admitted to hospital as a private patient, the parents are not required to pay the initial out-of-pocket amount that usually applies to adult admissions.
What age will my children be covered until?
Since 1 April 2021, insurers have been allowed to keep dependants on a family health insurance policy up to the age of 31. It's optional, so each fund picks its own cut-off somewhere in the 18-to-31 range and you need to check yours. There is no upper age limit for a dependant with a disability, although not every insurer covers that category. Dependants fall into one of these classifications for insurance purposes:
- Child dependant. A dependent child is aged up to 17, does not have a partner and relies on the policyholder for financial support.
- Student dependant. A student dependant is aged between 18 and 31, does not have a partner and is studying full time. Your insurer sets the exact age range it accepts.
- Adult dependant. An adult dependant is aged between 18 and 31, does not have a partner and is not studying full time. Insurers choose whether to cover this category and many charge an additional loading for it.
Finder survey: How many Australians took out hospital cover to get better heath care for their family?
| Response | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| To get better health care for my family | 9.96% | 9.58% |
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
At what age can you have your own policy?
If you are or know a young person that needs private health insurance on their own, then you can generally take out your own policy once you turn 16. However, some insurers will issue health insurance at even younger ages. Here are the minimum age limits for cover from some Finder partners.
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What should you look for in a policy that covers children?
Child-friendly benefits to look for in a good family health insurance policy might include:
- Cover for an adult dependant to as high an age as your fund allows (the legal maximum is 31) without having to pay an additional loading
- No excess payable if your child is admitted to hospital (most policies include this)
- No-gap extras benefits for kids (such as dental check-ups, teeth cleaning, fillings and x-rays)
- Cover for pregnancy and IVF treatment if you are planning to have a baby
- Extras cover that suits your family members’ specific needs (e.g. more generous dental or optical if there are orthodontic or vision problems, or more physio and chiro if you are a sporting family)
Do you need extras cover?
While some level of hospital cover is necessary to provide protection if a family member needs hospital treatment, good extras cover is vital for families, as ancillary services are not covered by Medicare and services such as dental, optical, podiatry, physio and chiro are used regularly by most growing families.
While children are automatically covered for extras on a family policy, you need to ensure that the benefit limits offered are high enough to cater for the needs of your family. Ideally you should look for a policy that offers individual benefit limits rather than overall capped limits, which a large family can quickly exceed in a year.
Medicare's Child Dental Benefits Schedule provides up to $1,158 in dental benefits for each eligible child over 2 calendar years (the cap is indexed every 1 January), so it might also be worth looking into this when deciding on how much extras cover you need.
Health insurance and pregnancy-related services
If you’re planning on starting a family and want private health insurance to cover your pregnancy, you'll want to upgrade your policy at least 12 months before getting pregnant. Health insurance for pregnancy is a Gold-tier clinical category, so all Gold policies include it and some Silver Plus policies do too - check the policy's clinical categories. A 12-month waiting period applies either way.
Covered pregnancy and birth-related services may include accommodation, labour ward costs and doctors’ fees, plus some obstetrician’s fees during delivery. If you need assisted reproductive services like IVF, private health insurance policies that cover them will typically include in-hospital services related to egg collection and embryo transfer.
Note that pregnancy also involves out-of-hospital services that can't be claimed on private health insurance or Medicare. You should expect some out-of-pocket expenses if you choose to give birth in the private system.
Frequently asked questions
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More guides on Finder
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Health insurance dependant age
How to find health insurance when you're no longer covered by your parents' policy.
We are Australian citizens that reside in the UAE and are considered Non-residents for TAX purposes. We are sending our 11 yr old to Australian bording school from Jan 2024. Is there a private heath inurance provider that would suite our circumstance?
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your message. You can find out more on finding health cover for non-residents in our guide to overseas visitor health cover. There we list 19 providers – it may be a good idea to reach out to funds directly and see if they can offer cover that’s right for your specific requirements.
Best,
James