Health insurance companies: Your options in Australia
Whether you're looking for not-for-profit or lowest cost, here's the list of health insurance companies in Australia.
Who is this cover for?
No contact details required
Compare 40+ funds
Same price as going direct
Back
Close
I'm Tim, your insurance expert.
Here to help you find the right cover for you!
Step 1/2 - About your cover
Which state do you live in?
QLD
NSW
ACT
VIC
TAS
SA
WA
NT
What's your age?
Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated January 2025, in line with Finder's database of health insurance policies. Prices reflect the cheapest available for a single individual with less than $97,000 income and living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Create a Finder account to get an email copy of your results (optional)
Enter your email address
By entering your email address, you agree to create a Finder account subject to our Privacy & Cookies Policy and Terms of Service. We will send you an email to setup your password.
Why compare with us
You'll pay the same price as going direct - we don't
charge fees
We don't ask for your phone number to see prices
Hang tight - we're fetching policies just for you!
There are over 30 Australian private health insurance funds.
The largest private health funds in Australia include Medibank, ahm, Bupa, hbf, HCF and nib.
Australian health insurance providers are subject to regulations set by the government to ensure they provide fair and affordable coverage.
List of Australian health funds
This chonky table lists all the health funds in Australia.
Fund name
Restricted or open
Profit or not for profit
AAMI Health Insurance
Open
For profit
ACA Health
Restricted
For profit
ahm
Open
For profit
AIA Health Insurance
Open
For profit
Apia
Open
For profit
Astute Simplicity Health
Open
Not for profit
Australian Unity
Open
For profit
Bupa
Open
For profit
CBHS
Restricted
Not for profit
Defence Health
Restricted
Not for profit
Doctors Health Fund
Restricted
Not for profit
Emergency Services Health
Restricted
Not for profit
Frank Health Insurance
Open
Not for profit
GMHBA
Open
Not for profit
GU Health
Open
For profit
HBF
Open
Not for profit
HCF
Open
Not for profit
Health Partners
Open
Not for profit
HealthCare Insurance
Open
Not for profit
HIF
Open
Not for profit
Hunter Health Insurance
Open
Not for profit
ING Health Insurance
Open
For profit
Latrobe
Open
Not for profit
Medibank
Open
For profit
Mildura Health Fund
Open
Not for profit
Navy Health
Restricted
Not for profit
nib
Open
For profit
Nurses & Midwives
Restricted
Not for profit
onemedifund
Open
For profit
Peoplecare
Open
Not for profit
Phoenix Health Fund
Open
Not for profit
Police Health
Restricted
Not for profit
Priceline Health Insurance
Open
For profit
Qantas Insurance
Open
For profit
Queensland Country Health Fund
Open
Not for profit
Real Health Insurance
Open
For profit
Reserve Bank Health Society
Restricted
Not for profit
RT Health
Restricted
Not for profit
See-U
Open
Not for profit
Seniors Health Insurance
Open
For profit
St. Lukes Health
Open
Not for profit
Suncorp Health Insurance
Open
For profit
Teachers Health Fund
Restricted
Not for profit
TUH
Restricted
Not for profit
UniHealth
Restricted
Not for profit
Union Health
Restricted
Not for profit
Westfund Health
Open
Not for profit
For profit vs not for profit funds
There are a tonne of not-for-profit health funds in the Aussie health insurance industry. In fact, there are more not-for-profit funds than for-profit funds. Although more Australians overall are enrolled with a for-profit fund. For now, anyway.
Not-for-profit funds don't have shareholders, so ostensibly return all their profits back to their members, either through more benefits or lower premiums. This generally seems to play out in the real world - the Finder 2024 health insurance awards were all won by not-for-profit funds.
However, we generally see for-profit funds with more generous sign-up deals, thanks to their bigger marketing budget. That's not a hard and fast rule - the bigger not-for-profit funds like HBF and HCF often have pretty competitive sign-up offers for example. But that's something to consider if you want to switch health funds every year or two and take advantage of these deals.
Restricted vs open health funds
A restricted health fund is one that's only available to join by certain people. Her are some examples of what that looks like:
Teacher's Health Fund limits membership to teachers and their families.
CBHA Health will only insure people that work for the Commonwealth Bank.
Union Health restricts memberships to members of labour unions.
All Australian restricted funds are currently not-for-profit (you could maybe argue that corporate health funds are for profit restricted). Restricted funds are subject to the same rules and requirements that open funds are, so it's debatable whether or not there's a particular advantage to them.
Australian health funds descriptions and stats
AAMI Health Insurance
A long-trusted Australian brand, AAMI offers health insurance through nib, itself a leading health insurance company.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
ACA Health
ACA Health Benefits Fund is a not-for-profit health fund for employees of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and their families.
Member retention: 91.4% Market share: 0.1% No-gap services: 92.8% Benefits as % of contributions: 75.6% Underwriter:
ahm
ahm is a part of Medibank Private Ltd and trades as ahm Health Insurance.
Member retention: 86.9% Market share: 27.1% No-gap services: 83.8% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.4% Underwriter: Medibank
AIA Health Insurance
AIA Australia, the local wing of the Asian insurance giant, offeres health insurance to Aussies with a focus on supporting members stay healthy and well. AIA Vitality is one of the best benefits and rewards programs for Aussies that stay fit and active.
Member retention: 76.1% Market share: 0.4% No-gap services: 84.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.2% Underwriter:
Apia
Apia specialises in providing health insurance cover for over 50s and seniors. Underwritten by Suncorp
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Astute Simplicity Health
Astute Simplicity Health is an arm of Astute Financial, which provides general financial services. While Astute Financial is a privately owned, for-profit company, Astute Simplicity Health Insurance is underwritten by St Lukes, a Tasmanian not-for-profit health fund.
Member retention: 89.4% Market share: 0.6% No-gap services: 88.9% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.6% Underwriter: St. Lukes
Australian Unity
Australian Unity is a health care, financial services and retirement living organisation that provides services to over half a million Australians.
Member retention: 79.0% Market share: 2.2% No-gap services: 91.4% Benefits as % of contributions: 70.0% Underwriter:
Bupa
Formerly known as HBA, MBF and Mutual Community, Bupa has been around for more than 60 years.
Member retention: 87.7% Market share: 24.9% No-gap services: 91.1% Benefits as % of contributions: 80.9% Underwriter:
CBHS
CBHS Health Fund is a restricted not-for-profit fund for current and former employees of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group and their eligible families.
Member retention: 92.4% Market share: 1.5% No-gap services: 85.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 84.2% Underwriter:
CBHS Corporate
Member retention: 71.1% Market share: No-gap services: 82.1% Benefits as % of contributions: 84.0% Underwriter: 0>
Defence Health
Defence Health offers its suite of private health cover options to more than 235,000 members with connections to the Australian Defence Force.
Member retention: 91.0% Market share: 2.0% No-gap services: 89.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 76.4% Underwriter:
Doctors Health Fund
Doctors Health Fund provides a range of private health care solutions for health professionals and their families.
Member retention: 90.2% Market share: 0.5% No-gap services: 93.0% Benefits as % of contributions: 80.4% Underwriter:
Emergency Services Health
Emergency Services Health is a not-for-profit health fund for Australia's emergency services community.
Member retention: 91.2% Market share: 0.5% No-gap services: 87.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 86.9% Underwriter: Police Health
Frank Health Insurance
Frank Private Health Insurance Australia is a not-for-profit health fund that is part of GMHBA (Geelong Medical and Hospital Benefits Association)
Member retention: 78.9% Market share: 2.2% No-gap services: 86.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 78.9% Underwriter: GMHBA
GMHBA
Geelong Medical and Hospital Benefits Association (GMHBA) is a regionally-based not-for-profit member-based health fund.
Member retention: 78.9% Market share: 2.2% No-gap services: 86.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 78.9% Underwriter:
GU Health
GU Health, also known as Grand United Corporate Health, is a specialist corporate health fund that services more than 300 companies. It's owned and operated by nib.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
HBF
HBF is a not-for-profit health fund and one of the five largest health funds in Australia. Based in Western Australia, it's been looking after the cover needs of its members for more than 70 years.
Member retention: 89.9% Market share: 7.7% No-gap services: 92.5% Benefits as % of contributions: 87.9% Underwriter:
HCF
The Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia Limited (HCF) is one of the Big Four health funds and is the largest not-for-profit health fund in Australia.
Member retention: 88.2% Market share: 12.5% No-gap services: 86.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 87.7% Underwriter:
Health Partners
Health Partners is a Members Own Health Fund.
Member retention: 90.2% Market share: 0.7% No-gap services: 91.0% Benefits as % of contributions: 81.9% Underwriter:
HealthCare Insurance
Founded in 1938, Health Care Insurance (HCI) aims to offer quality cover and value for money to its members.
Member retention: 88.2% Market share: 0.1% No-gap services: 91.5% Benefits as % of contributions: 74.7% Underwriter:
HIF
Health Insurance Fund of Australia (HIF), a not-for-profit member-based health fund.
Member retention: 75.9% Market share: 0.7% No-gap services: 89.6% Benefits as % of contributions: 78.8% Underwriter:
Hunter Health Insurance
Hunter Health Insurance is the new name of Cessnock District Health Fund, which has been offering cost-effective private health cover for its members for more than 60 years. Hunter now offer coverage nationwide.
Member retention: 88.4% Market share: No-gap services: 83.5% Benefits as % of contributions: 70.9% Underwriter: 0>
ING Health Insurance
ING has a huge range of savings accounts and financial products. It now offers health insurance, thanks to its partnership with nib health insurance.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Latrobe
Established in 1951, Latrobe is a member-focused health fund, providing cover to more than 78,000 Australians.
Member retention: 77.8% Market share: 0.7% No-gap services: 75.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter:
Medibank
Medibank's core business is the underwriting of private health insurance policies through Medibank and ahm. Headquartered in Melbourne, they have operations throughout Australia.
Member retention: 86.9% Market share: 27.1% No-gap services: 83.8% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.4% Underwriter:
Mildura Health Fund
Mildura Health Fund, also known as Mildura District Hospital Fund, has been offering health cover to its members since 1929. It has agreements in place with hundreds of hospitals around the country.
Member retention: 91.5% Market share: 0.3% No-gap services: 81.2% Benefits as % of contributions: 82.4% Underwriter:
Navy Health
Offering competitive policies to suit the cover needs of Australian Defence Force members and their families, Navy Health is a not-for-profit fund and was founded in 1955.
Member retention: 89.4% Market share: 0.4% No-gap services: 90.0% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.4% Underwriter:
nib
nib is one of Australia's fastest growing health funds and began life as Newcastle Industrial Benefits (nib) Hospital Fund and Medical Fund, established by workers at BHP Steelworks in Mayfield.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter:
Nurses & Midwives
Nurses & Midwives Health is exclusively for the needs of the Australian nursing and midwifery community.
Member retention: 96.8% Market share: 2.6% No-gap services: 90.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 86.0% Underwriter: Teacher's Health
onemedifund
With a focus on providing private health insurance that is straightforward and easy to understand, onemedifund offers a wide range of hospital cover, extras cover and combined cover packages.
Member retention: 93.8% Market share: 0.1% No-gap services: 89.6% Benefits as % of contributions: 73.7% Underwriter:
Peoplecare
A not-for-profit health fund with a focus on providing value-for-money cover, Peoplecare was named the number-one open health fund in Australia by Australian Financial Review's Smart Investor magazine in 2014.
Member retention: 85.9% Market share: 0.5% No-gap services: 90.9% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.3% Underwriter:
Phoenix Health Fund
Founded in 1953 to meet the health cover needs of Stewarts and Lloyds employees, Phoenix Health Fund now offers competitive private health insurance to anyone in Australia who wants to join.
Member retention: 85.0% Market share: 0.2% No-gap services: 91.4% Benefits as % of contributions: 77.7% Underwriter:
Police Health
Run by police for police, Police Health is a not-for-profit fund that offers value-for-money cover.
Member retention: 91.2% Market share: 0.5% No-gap services: 87.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 86.9% Underwriter:
Priceline Health Insurance
Priceline offers health insurance through nib - if you're a member of the Priceline sister club, health cover will let you earn extra rewards when you shop.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Qantas Insurance
Qantas Insurance is issued by NIB and made available by Qantas.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Queensland Country Health Fund
Based in regional Queensland, Queensland Country Health Fund aims to offer top-quality cover to Queenslanders. It has more than 35,000 members.
Member retention: 87.6% Market share: 0.4% No-gap services: 89.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.8% Underwriter:
Real Health Insurance
Real Insurance is the retail arm of Hollard, which is one of the biggest underwriters of Aussie insurance brands. Despite offering mostly Hollard insurance products, Real Insurance offers health insurance underwritten by nib.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Reserve Bank Health Society
Reserve Bank Health Society is a restricted health fund for current and former employees of the Reserve Bank of Australia or Note Printing Australia and their families.
Member retention: 91.3% Market share: No-gap services: 90.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 74.9% Underwriter: 0>
RT Health
With a history dating back more than 126 years, RT Health Fund is a not-for-profit fund that offers a large variety of hospital and extras cover options for its members.
Member retention: Market share: No-gap services: 85.2% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.5% Underwriter:
See-U
see-u is part of popular non profit insurer HBF. Previous known as CUA, see-u offers a simple, no nonsense set of products aimed at younger Aussies.
Member retention: 89.9% Market share: 7.7% No-gap services: 92.5% Benefits as % of contributions: 87.9% Underwriter: hbf
Seniors Health Insurance
Aimed primarily at older Australians, Seniors Health Insurance is offer via nib, one of the largest health insurers in the country.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
St. Lukes Health
St.LukesHealth was founded in Tasmania in 1952. It offers affordable hospital and extras cover to members in every Australian state and territory.
Member retention: 89.4% Market share: 0.6% No-gap services: 88.9% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.6% Underwriter:
Suncorp Health Insurance
True to its name, Suncorp is based out of the sunny city of Brisbane - it offers health insurance via nib.
Member retention: 82.7% Market share: 9.6% No-gap services: 91.7% Benefits as % of contributions: 79.0% Underwriter: nib
Teachers Health Fund
Teachers Health Fund is a restricted access, not-for-profit health fund for those in the education community and their families.
Member retention: 96.8% Market share: 2.6% No-gap services: 90.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 86.0% Underwriter:
TUH
Established in 1972 by the Queensland Teachers' Union, TUH offers quality health cover to members of the union and their families. It provides private health insurance cover for more than 70,000 Australians.
Member retention: 90.6% Market share: 0.6% No-gap services: 91.8% Benefits as % of contributions: 82.6% Underwriter:
UniHealth
UniHealth is created exclusively for the higher education community and their families.
Member retention: 96.8% Market share: 2.6% No-gap services: 90.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 86.0% Underwriter: Teacher's Health
Union Health
Offering cover to union members and their families, Union Health is a relaitvely new not-fot-profit fund. It's a restricted fund, but anyone in a union can join. If you haven't joined your union, maybe you should?
Member retention: 90.6% Market share: 0.6% No-gap services: 91.8% Benefits as % of contributions: 82.6% Underwriter: TUH
Westfund Health
Westfund is a member-owned health fund that was established in 1929. It aims to offer top-quality health cover to a wide variety of Australians.
Member retention: 87.1% Market share: 0.9% No-gap services: 90.3% Benefits as % of contributions: 83.3% Underwriter:
Health insurance tips
Finding the right health cover is like taking out any form of insurance. You need to compare policies and identify the one that is the fit for you and represents the value for money. The following are some things to bear in mind when doing so.
Review your cover regularly (at least once a year), as circumstances change (both your fund’s and your own)
If you find a better deal, switch fund, as it is easier than you think and your current benefits and status are fully transferable under law
Consider having your hospital cover and extras cover with separate funds if you find good independent offers on each
Select a higher excess if you can afford it, to reduce the cost of your premium
Be wary of policies that have both an excess and a co-payment, as you could end up paying both
Look for policies that offer full ambulance cover, not just emergency cover
Make sure your fund has agreements with your doctor and local hospital to avoid paying a gap.
How are health funds regulated?
When looking for health cover, it’s important to look at the fund as well as the policy to make sure they would be able to fulfil their part of the bargain if you make a claim. You can learn something about a fund’s industry standing, claims record and customer service levels from their online presence and also through industry forums on social media.
The health insurance industry in Australia is regulated by the Private Health Insurance Administration Council (PHIAC), which conducts quarterly reviews of health funds to ensure compliance. The Private Health Insurance Act 2007 gives the PHIAC the power to issue directives and enforce compliance if necessary, so consumers can be fairly confident that, in Australia at least, our private health insurance industry is well regulated and financially sound.
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
Tim's expertise
Tim has written 128 Finder guides across topics including:
My wife is on a 461 visa (NZ family) which does not include medicare. Which insurance company provides the best value private insurance which covers the same/similar things as medicare?
Finder
RichardJanuary 16, 2017Finder
Hi David,
Thanks for reaching out. finder.com.au is a comparison service and we are not permitted to provide personalised financial advice. If you would like to compare your options, please check the list of overseas visitors health cover (OVHC) on our website.
On this page, you’ll find out useful information about this type of cover, along with a comparison table of the products available through the funds in our panel.
There are a number of reasons why taking out private health cover now rather than later can be a smart thing for singles to do.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Finder is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stand by our editorial principles.
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and
living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below
My wife is on a 461 visa (NZ family) which does not include medicare. Which insurance company provides the best value private insurance which covers the same/similar things as medicare?
Hi David,
Thanks for reaching out. finder.com.au is a comparison service and we are not permitted to provide personalised financial advice. If you would like to compare your options, please check the list of overseas visitors health cover (OVHC) on our website.
On this page, you’ll find out useful information about this type of cover, along with a comparison table of the products available through the funds in our panel.
All the best,
Richard