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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.
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.
Why compare health insurance with Finder?
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With 1 click, you can open your results to nearly every fund in Australia.
You pay the same price as going direct – we charge no fees.
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
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Comparing quotes from 30+ funds...
What you need to know
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Finder survey: How many people worry about being able to pay for medical bills?
Response
Male
Female
No
53.96%
38.31%
Yes
30.63%
43.3%
Somewhat
15.42%
18.39%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
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 July 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.
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 258 Finder guides across topics including:
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 729 Finder guides across topics including:
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