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Single parent health insurance

Single parent health insurance is a type of private health policy that comes with equal cover for one or more of your kids. You pay the same rate regardless of how many dependants you have.

Who is this cover for?

Single parent health insurance covers you and all your kids on the same convenient policy, helping you protect your children's health.

As your family grows, you can even add additional children onto your policy for free and it'll usually cover them up until the age of 21, or 25 if they're a full-time uni student.

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Key takeaways

  • If you already have insurance, there will be a small bump in your premium for the first child and the rest are covered for free.
  • The kids are covered for what you are covered for and they will not usually have to serve waiting periods if you have already served them.
  • You can get single parent hospital cover, extras cover or both.

What is single parent health insurance?

Single parent health insurance refers to a singles health insurance policy that also includes equal cover for one or more dependants. It can help pay the bills for:

Hospital cover

Hospital treatment

As well as covering you for everything that Medicare includes, private hospital insurance can let you and your kids get treated for non-urgent conditions quicker, allow you to choose the doctor that treats them and give them access to a private room in a private hospital.

General dental

Extras treatment

Childhood is also the time for fixing crooked teeth and imperfect vision. Extras cover gives your kids a head start in both areas. Most extras policies will cover basic dental work, eye exams, glasses and even therapies like physio. Dreading the day your little one needs orthodontics? Higher level policies can help out there.

Ambulance cover

Ambulances

Unfortunately, ambulance services are not covered by Medicare in Australia (except in Queensland and Tasmania) so you'll need to take out health insurance if you want to avoid expensive fees for you or your child. Luckily, you can get covered for as little as $3 a week with a basic extras policy.

Finder survey: How many people worry about being able to pay for medical bills?

ResponseMaleFemale
No53.96%38.31%
Yes30.63%43.3%
Somewhat15.42%18.39%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023

Does single parent health insurance cover pregnancy?

Yes, all gold tier policies are required to provide pregnancy cover. Keep in mind there's a 12-month waiting period before you can claim for pregnancy. That means you'll have to get pregnancy cover well before you start trying to conceiv, unless your previous policy also covered pregnancy.

If you don't plan to have more children, opt for a policy that excludes pregnancy cover since there's no point paying for a service you're unlikely to need.

What are the waiting periods on a single parent health insurance policy?

Waiting periods for single parent health insurance are generally as follows:

  • 2 months for most hospital treatments (except pregnancy which is 12 months) and extras services e.g. general dental, physio and chiro.
  • 12 months for pre-existing conditions and some more expensive extras treatments like major dental and orthodontics.

What does single parent health insurance not cover?

Even with comprehensive hospital and extras policies, there are a few services and treatments a single parent health policy will not cover. Some of these include:

  • Outpatient blood work and testing. Private hospital cover piggybacks off Medicare, which covers mainly inpatient treatments. Outpatient services like bloodwork and testing aren't typically covered on extras policies either.
  • GP and specialist visits. These are two types of outpatient services that Medicare will cover but your private health insurance won't.
  • Non-emergency ambulance rides. Most private health insurance policies cover ambulance rides but only for emergency situations. If paramedics or doctors say it's not an emergency, your insurance won't cover you.
  • Hospital treatments that Medicare doesn't cover. The Australian healthcare system is designed to get you the health care you really need but not necessarily services you merely want. So neither Medicare nor private health will cover you for many services that aren't medically necessary, like a face lift.

Best sign up deals for November 2024 from Finder Partners

Check the deals below before buying health insurance and you could save money on your premium - or get a reward for signing up.

Name Product AUFHI-DLZ

Get 6 weeks free & 2-month waiting periods waived on extras

Ends 09 December 2024

When you join HCF by 9 December 2024 on eligible combined hospital and extras cover and stay for 3 months. T&Cs apply.


Get a FREE Gift Card on hospital and extras cover.

Ends 17 December 2024

Join HBF by 17 December 2024 to get a $300 gift card with a couple/family policy or $150 gift card with a single/single parent policy after 31 days. New member offer. T&Cs apply.


Join Bupa direct and get up to 8 weeks free on eligible products

Ends 27 November 2024

Offer Ends Nov 27. New Bupa Members Only. Domestic policies only. Terms and conditions apply.


Get 6 weeks free

For new joins on eligible combined hospital & extras. T&Cs apply. Learn more.


Want 6 weeks free and $500 in gift cards (couples/families) or $250 in gift cards (singles/single parents) when you join & maintain eligible Bronze Hospital+Extras or above?

Ends 21 November 2024

New members only. T&Cs apply. Excludes Basic covers. Offer ends 21 Nov 2024.


Want up to 8 weeks free plus a $50 gift card?

Ends 04 December 2024

Join and maintain eligible Extras cover. T&Cs Apply. Excludes Healthy Living Extras. Learn more.


Want up to 8 weeks free and $400 in gift cards (couples/families) or $200 in gift cards (singles/single parents) when you join and maintain eligible Bronze Hospital cover or above?

Ends 11 December 2024

New members only. T&Cs apply. Excludes Basic covers. Offer ends 11 Dec 2024.


Join and earn up to 130,000 Qantas Points

Ends 30 November 2024

Plus, skip the 2 and 6 month waiting periods on Extras with combined Hospital and Extras cover. Points will be awarded based on your level of cover over 6 months. Eligibility criteria and T&Cs apply.

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James Martin was the insurance editor at Finder. He has written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years. James often shares his insurance expertise as a media spokesperson and has appeared on Prime 7 News, WIN News, Insurance News, 7NEWS and The Guardian. He holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, both of which meet the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

James's expertise
James has written 219 Finder guides across topics including:
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Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 654 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Health, home, life, car, pet and travel insurance
  • Managing the cost of living

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