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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 $55 a week*.

Who is this cover for?

Key takeaways

  • Gold tier cover is the highest level of private health insurance available.
  • The cheapest gold policy on Finder starts at around $55 per week.
  • Waiting periods will apply to your gold coverage, it's good to be mindful of this when buying.

What does gold hospital insurance cover?

Gold-tier hospital insurance covers all 38 treatments outlined by the Australian government. This includes treatments like joint replacements, pregnancy, insulin pumps, as well as all services covered by Silver-tier policies. See below for a comprehensive list.

Side by side: health insurance tiers

There are 4 tiers of private health insurance; basic, bronze, silver and gold. As you might assume, each level refers to how many treatments are covered with basic being at the thinner end of coverage and gold being the most comprehensive cover available.

Clinical CategoryGoldSilverBronzeBasic
Rehabilitation
RRR
Hospital psychiatric services
RRR
Palliative Care
RRR
Brain and nervous system
O (R)
Eye (not cataracts)
O (R)
Ear, nose and throat
O (R)
Tonsils, adenoids and grommets
O (R)
Bone, joint and muscle
O (R)
Joint reconstructions
O (R)
Kidney and bladder
O (R)
Male reproductive system
O (R)
Digestive system
O (R)
Hernia and appendix
O (R)
Gastrointestinal endoscopy
O (R)
Gynaecology
O (R)
Miscarriage and termination of pregnancy
O (R)
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy for cancer
O (R)
Pain Management
O (R)
Skin
O (R)
Breast surgery (medically necessary)
O (R)
Diabetes management (excluding insulin pumps)
O (R)
Heart and vascular system
OO (R)
Lung and chest
OO (R)
Blood
OO (R)
Back, neck and spine
OO (R)
Plastic and reconstructive surgery (medically necessary)
OO (R)
Dental Sugery
OO (R)
Podiatric surgery (provided by a registered podiatric surgeon)
OO (R)
Implantation of hearing devices
OO (R)
Cataracts
OOO (R)
Joint replacements
OOO (R)
Dialysis for chronic kidney failure
OOO (R)
Pregnancy and birth
OOO (R)
Assisted reproductive services
OOO (R)
Weight loss surgery
OOO (R)
Insulin pumps
OOO (R)
Pain management with device
OOO (R)
Sleep studies
OOO (R)
Indicates the clinical category is a minimum requirement of the product tier.
(R)Restricted cover permitted: insurers are allowed to offer cover for this clinical category on a restricted basis. A restricted benefit means you are partially covered for hospital costs as a private patient in a public hospital. You may incur significant expenses in a private room or private hospital so you should check with your insurer and hospital for details.
OOptional for the insurer to include: insurers may choose to offer these as additional clinical categories.

How much does gold health insurance cost?

The cost of health insurance will vary based on your state, age, income and more. It'll also change based on whether you're buying hospital cover on its own or with an extras policy.

To give you an idea of costs, we've gotten the average monthly cost for gold hospital cover and broken it down per state. These costs are based on a single individual with less than $97,000 income with a $750 excess.

Average monthly premium
NSW$245.21
QLD$260.03
VIC$268.88
TAS$236.09
SA$223.93
NT$149.55
WA$210.56

These average prices are updated as of October 2024, in line with Finder's database of health insurance policies.

Understanding waiting periods

Waiting periods refer to the time between when you take out a policy and the time when you're able to claim on that policy. This is relevant to those who are taking out a policy for the first time and those who have increased their cover level, say, from silver to gold.

The government sets the maximum waiting periods for all services. They are:

In some special circumstances, you can access mental health treatment in a hospital without having to serve the waiting period.

For extras policies, insurers can set their own waiting periods.

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.
Susannah Binsted's headshot

"I got Medibank Gold Hospital health insurance so I was covered for obstetrics. Providing my healthcare details to the private hospital was really easy and Medibank called me via their concierge service as I was approaching my due date to answer any questions I might have. Best of all, my baby was covered under the same policy from birth, which meant that the unexpected ambulance transfer across the city and specialist tests for him were also covered. Overall, it was a good experience and I plan to stay with Medibank for any subsequent pregnancies. "

Susannah Binsted
Finder crew member

Who is gold health insurance best for?

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

FAQs

Jason Loewenthal's headshot
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.
Tim Bennett's headshot
Written by

Insurance expert

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 119 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Personal finance
  • Financial comparison
  • Health insurance
  • General insurance
  • Life insurance
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Co-written by

Publisher of Insurance

Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio

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